Rising stars of African Football: Ethiopia

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June 22, 2012 by Steven

Ethiopian children playing football

In an era when it appears every last blade of grass on European football pitches is covered by a multitude of newspapers, blog-sites and twitterers Theodor Gebre Selassie has been one of the biggest surprises of Euro 2012. His marauding runs into opposition territory became a running theme in Group A and the full-back securing a move to Bundesliga giants Werder Bremen.

Gebre Salassie has a fascinating background. Born to an Ethiopian father and a Czech mother in communist-era Czechoslovakia he was eligible to play for both the land of his father as well as his birth. And whilst Gebre Salassie may have chosen Czech Republic it doesn’t appear to have done the land of his father too much harm as the Wayla Antelopes have started their 2014 World Cup qualification campaign with two very impressive results.

It’s probably surprising to many casual observers of football in Africa that Ethiopia are one of the oldest footballing countries on the continent. As the country was part of the Italian empire football was an important part of society in this area of eastern Africa. In fact the Ethiopian national league was called Serie A for many years in tribute to the Italian national league. In 1957 Ethiopia were one of inaugural competitors in the first Africa Cup of Nations alongside Sudan and Egypt. A short five years later Ethiopia would become champions of Africa winning the Africa Cup of Nations outright, seeing off Egypt 4-2 in the final. It’s interesting to note that similar to the Czechsolovakian European Championships victory in 76, where many of the players were Slovak rather than Czech, nine of the Ethiopian side were actually Eritrean (the two countries separated in 1993, co-incidentally the same year as the Czechs and Slovaks split).

The present day Ethiopian squad is a shadow of its past former glories, though things are starting to change. Only two Ethiopian players play outside the country. The first Fikru-Teferra Lemessa continues the Czech-Ethiopian link as he spent a few years in the Gambrinus Liga with Mlada Boleslav, though he now plays in China. The other, Said Saladin, is the current poster-boy of Ethiopian football, a player who when he moved to Egypt to sign for Wadi Degla became the most expensive Wayla Antelope of all time. Unfortunately for Said, the Egyptian league is currently suspended due to well documented off the field problems so he hasn’t played much football recently.

Ethiopia’s first game in qualification for World Cup 2014 was against South Africa in Rustenburg. Bafana Bafana were shocked early on by the persistence and skill of the Ethiopian number 7. Said Saladin hustled the ball from a Bafana Bafana midfielder before making a dash towards goal, gliding past a defender and firing an emphatic shot in off the bar, past the helpless keeper. The South Africans equalised late in the game but most nations would be delighted with an away draw in African qualification. The Wayla Antelopes following game ended in a 2-0 victory against Central African Republic who were to later defeat the Egyptians in Alexandria in an African Cup of Nations qualifier.

The Ethiopians have four games remaining. They have to play a Botswanan side riven with internal divisions related to unpaid bonuses after their African Cup of Nations campaign home and away, Central African Republic away and South Africa at home in what may be a winner takes all game in June at the Addis Ababa stadium. If they can top the group, and that’s a real possibility now, then they will face a play-off for a place in Brazil against another African group winner. If that final hurdle can be overcome then maybe, just maybe, Ethiopia can be the first nation from East Africa to play at a World Cup Finals.

Image from flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenandmelanie/