Ethiopia have qualified to the final qualifying round.
Ethiopia
Nickname: The Black Lions
Coach: Sewnet Bishaw
Home venue: Addis Ababa Stadium, capacity: 22,000
Record in AFCON: champions (1962)
Qualified for the AFCON 10 times.
Have never played at the World Cup before.
Billed as one of the surprise packages in the World Cup qualifying rounds, the high flying Ethiopian national team lived up to its expectations beating the Central African Republic 2-1 in neutral Congo Brazzaville to secure a World Cup playoffs berth.
Ethiopia were drawn in Group A along with South Africa, Botswana and Central African Republic and they managed to claim the ticket available for the group with 13 points from 6 games.
They won 4, drew and lost one. They claimed a back-to-back win over the Central African Republic and also defeated South Africa and Botswana at their favourite home grounds.
Botswana were the only side who managed to beat them, handing down a 3-0 defeat at the Lobatse Stadium on June 8.
Mengistu Worku, all-time top-scorer, is regarded as the best Ethiopian footballer in history. He is best known for his role in the final of the 1962 African Nations Cup.
Degu Debebe remains their most capped player with 49 appearances for the country.
Ethiopia scored 8 times in the 6 games played also conceded 6 goals. They kept a clean sheet just twice in the qualifiers.
Said Saladin who plays for Belgian side Lierse SK scored four times for them during the qualifiers.
View the original article here
