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Africa’s Best Team So Far By Sunday Olisey; January 24, 2013 Yesterday Ethiopia took on defending champions Zambia and, for many, it was not a question of who the victors would be (which many assumed would be Zambia) but by how much they might win. End result 1-1. The victory went to the Ethiopians in a moral sense. As the game progressed it became clear that the Zambians were just as surprised as we all were at the quality of the Ethiopians. They are ranked as the least team in Africa by Caf and Fifa (31st in Africa). Parading a team of all home-based players they reminded me in so many ways of Barcelona of Spain. Yes they were that good! Playing in a 1-4-5-1 formation with an extremely talented Said Saladin up front as the lone striker, they created goal scoring chances, ran rings around the Zambians with their passing game and put on constant pressure to prevent them from playing. They even the luxury to miss a penalty by Saladin. They unfortunately had their goalkeeper sent off in the midpoint of the first half and played over an hour with one man less. The ‘Kung Fu kick’ by Ethiopia’s goalkeeper on the goal-bound Zambian deserved a red card. However, here comes the interesting part. If you had missed the red card episode you would have thought that they were the team with one man more. They kept on playing as if nothing happened. Zambia eventually, against the run of play, took the lead via Mbesuma Collins, only to concede an equaliser minutes before the final whistle via Ethiopia’s Adane Grima. Who says African coaches are not world class? The game plan, tactics and choreographed movements by the modest Ehiopian players are the brain work of their impressive coach, Sewnet Bishaw. His astute decision to send in midfielder Addis Hintsa 25 minutes before the end of the encounter was key. He started the flowing move that led Adane Grima to the ball to score for Ethiopia. Were they very good or were the Zambians just below par, or below what they had us used to last year? Well I feel it was a bit of both and slightly leaning to the fact that the Ethiopians were just better. Their fans knew this before us all and were very vocal and present, to the delight of all neutrals. Having said the above, I am curious to see how they confirm this five-star performance in the next group game v Burkina Faso. Confirm it or not they have made African football better and sent scares through their future opponents. Only time will tell us more. Ethiopia fined for fan behavior CAF announced the fine late Tuesday, adding that half of the $10,000 penalty would be suspended on condition that Ethiopia’s fans are not found guilty of a similar offense during the rest of the tournament. Ethiopia had plenty of supporters for its first African Cup match in 31 years, but the Group C game at Mbombela turned ugly when Gabonese referee Eric Otogo-Castane dismissed Ethiopia goalkeeper Jemal Tassew shortly after the half-hour mark. Vuvuzelas and water bottles rained down from the stands, with coaches and substitutes forced to take shelter in their dugouts while a stadium announcer gradually restored calm. The match was delayed for around eight minutes, but finished without further incident. Ethiopia came from a goal down to take a point from defending champion Zambia. Riot police were stationed around the playing area for the second half, but no arrests were made. Ethiopian fans may also be barred from entering the stadium for Friday’s Group C clash with Burkina Faso unless CAF receives assurances from EFF that it can control its followers. Another possibility is that supporters will not be allowed to bring vuvuzelas into the stadium. Jemal was sent off whilst being stretchered off after a studs-up, waist-high challenge on Zambia’s Chisamba Lungu, and has been banned for the next two matches, meaning he will not feature in the tournament again unless Ethiopia progresses to the quarterfinal stage. In another decision, Africa’s football body warned the local organizing committee and Congolese Football Federation after a Congo supporter invaded the pitch and ran almost the entire width of the field in Port Elizabeth during his team’s 2-2 draw with Ghana on Sunday. CAF said it had sent a warning letter to the LOC advising it to “reinforce” security at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. “The Board also decided to address a warning letter to Congo as the visiting team is held responsible for the behavior of their supporters,” CAF said. Ten-man Ethiopia overcome Zambia with 1-1 NELSPRUIT, South Africa — Ten-man Ethiopia celebrated its return to the African Cup of Nations by holding defending champion Zambia to a 1-1 draw in a Group C opener that featured a missed penalty and vuvuzelas thrown onto the field. Ethiopia last featured at the continental showpiece back in 1982, and was buoyed by the presence of around 10,000 fans at the Mbombela Stadium who showed both their best and worst sides over an entertaining 90 minutes. Supporters hurled vuvuzelas and other debris onto the pitch in anger after the first-half sending off of Ethiopia goalkeeper Jemal Tassew, causing an eight-minute delay to the match. However, their anger turned to unbridled joy when Adane Girma’s 65th-minute strike canceled out Collins Mbesuma’s opener. Saladin Said missed a penalty for Ethiopia in the 25th. Aljazeera: Ethiopia frustrate defending champions ZambiaEthiopia, back at the Africa Cup of Nations after a three-decade absence, overcame a red card to hold champions Zambia to a 1-1 draw in an explosive Group C encounter on Monday in Nelspruit. Ethiopia, one of the founding fathers of African football who had fallen on hard times before enjoying a recent revival, had keeper Jemal Tassew sent off in the first half of a game that also featured a missed penalty and disgruntled vuvuzela-throwing fans. Collins Mbesuma scored for Zambia in first-half stoppage-time after Tassew had been red carded for a dangerous foul on Chisamba Lungu and captain Adane Girma equalised midway through the second half for Ethiopia. Coach pleased “I’m happy as we missed a penalty and drew. This is our first experience after 31 years so, as you see, it was fantastic for our football,” said Ethiopia coach Sewnet Bishaw. “The players have shown their characters, and shown the rest of the world they can play football. “The goalkeeper also has to defend, he went to defend the ball, and shouldn’t have been red carded.” Zambia coach Herve Renard said: “First of all I would like to congratulate Ethiopia for a very good performance. I’m not surprised – I said be careful of this team, they are able to play very good football. “Today, we have to thank our goalkeeper – without Kennedy Mweene it could have been a very, very bad result. “Our fans expected more than we did today, and they are right. Today, it was the fault of the coach. I did not prepare the team well to start the competition – we’ll see how things go after the third game. “I saw a replay on the screen (of red-card incident) and, for me, he deserved to be sent off.” Zambia featured 10 of the XI that performed heroics in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea 12 months ago with out-of-form Nyamba Mulenga the lone absentee. The 40,000-seat Mbombela Stadium was only a quarter full, with barely a Zambian fan in the sparse albeit colourful crowd, but one that did turn up, a man, was in a bikini. Penalty save Against the run of play, Ethiopia almost pinched the lead when Said pounced on a poor clearance from defender Joseph Musonda and lobbed onrushing Kennedy Mweene only for the ball to bounce over the crossbar. Said then won a 23rd-minute penalty when he was felled by Lungu in the box but his spot-kick lacked steel and was kept out by Mweene. At the other end, drama ensued after a high-velocity clash between Lungu and Tassew, who rushed out from his goal, boots flying. The Ethiopian keeper came off worse in the reckless assault, lying stricken on the ground for an age before being stretchered off, with Gabonese referee Castane Otogo waving him goodbye, a red card in his hand. This incensed the Ethiopian fans, who pelted the pitch with vuvuzelas and water bottles. To add to the tension, a South African fighter jet chose that moment to scream low over the stadium, as Zerihun Tadele entered the fray to replace Tassew. Zambia went in front when Mbesuma ran on to Isaac Chansa’s headed pass to shoot left-footed past Tadele with the Ethiopian defence at fault. This provoked another angry volley of vuvuzelas, cutting short the Zambian players’ celebrations and prompting the arrival on the touchline of riot police. With their numerical advantage, Zambia emerged for the second half eager to put the game to bed. But Ethiopia had other plans. On 65 minutes, Addis Hintsa, seconds after coming on for Getaneh Kebede, picked out Said who, in turn, found Adane Girma with the captain slotting an angled close-range shot past Mweene. A frantic climax failed to change the deadlock, with Tadele producing a good save to deny a late shot from Mbesuma. Source: Aljazeera
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