Ethiopia national football team Information & Ethiopia national football team Links at HealthHaven.com

Ethiopia
Nickname(s)	The Walya Antelopes
Association	Ethiopian Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	Abraham Teklehaymanot
Most caps	Luciano Vassalo
Home stadium	Addis Abeba Stadium
FIFA code	ETH
FIFA ranking	132
Highest FIFA ranking	86 (September 2006,; June 2007, February 2008)
Lowest FIFA ranking	155 (December 2001)
Elo ranking	126
Home colours	Away colours
First international
	Ethiopia 5 - 0 French Somaliland ; (Ethiopia; 1 May 1947)
Biggest win
	Ethiopia 7 - 0 Tanzania ; (Ethiopia; 8 October 1969); Ethiopia 8 - 1 Djibouti ; (Ethiopia; 27 March 1983)
Biggest defeat
	Nigeria 6 - 0 Ethiopia ; (Lagos, Nigeria; 24 July 1993);
African Nations Cup
Appearances	9 (First in 1957)
Best result	Winners, 1962

The Ethiopian national football team, nicknamed the The Walya Antelopes is controlled by the Ethiopian Football Federation. It was one of only three teams (along with Egypt and Sudan) to participate in the inaugural African Nations Cup in 1957. Ethiopia won the competition in 1962 when it was the host, but success has been elusive since the end of the 1960s.

[edit] History

[edit] Early days

Ethiopia has a long football tradition and was among the pioneers of international competition in Africa, playing its first international match in 1947, defeating a Djibouti selection 5-0. The team took part in the inaugural African Nations Cup in 1957.^[1] It also took part in the 1962 World Cup qualifiers, playing against Israel. The peak came in 1962 when the team won the African tournament on home soil, with a squad featuring stars such as forwards Mengistu Worku and Italo Vassalo, and midfielder Luciano Vassalo.

They remained a force in the continent for the remainder of the decade, although further success in the Nations Cup -- let alone World Cup qualification -- eluded them. The increasing number of national teams in Africa left Ethiopia as one of the lowest ranked African national football teams. Ethiopia hosted the Nations Cup tournament in 1976 (but failed to progress to the final four) and last qualified for the tournament in 1982.

[edit] Recent times

However, there have been signs of revival in recent years. In the 2004 African Nations Cup qualifiers, Ethiopians missed out on qualification by 3 points, losing their final game in Guinea. In the 2008 qualifiers, they showed promising signs once more but finished bottom of their group after losing their last two games.

[edit] Ethiopia Football Achievements

CECAFA Cup :

4 times Champion (1987, 2001, 2004, 2005)
1 time third place finish (2000)
1 time fourth place finish (1995)

[edit] World Cup record

1930 to 1954 - Did not enter
1958 - Entry not accepted by FIFA
1962 - Did not qualify
1966 - Did not enter
1970 to 1986 - Did not qualify
1990 - Did not enter
1994 - Did not qualify
1998 - Did not enter
2002 - Did not qualify
2006 - Did not qualify
2010 - Disqualified

[edit] African Nations Cup record

1957 - Second place
1959 - Third place
1962 - Champions
1963 - Fourth place
1965 - Round 1
1968 - Fourth place
1970 - Round 1
1972 - Did not qualify
1974 - Did not qualify
1976 - Round 1
1978 - Did not qualify

1980 - Did not qualify
1982 - Round 1
1984 - Did not qualify
1986 - Withdrew
1988 - Withdrew during qualifying
1990 - Did not qualify
1992 - Withdrew during qualifying
1994 to 1998 - Did not qualify
2000 - Withdrew
2002 to 2008 - Did not Qualify
2010 - Disqualified

[edit] Current squad

The following players were called for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification against Mauritania on June 22, 2008.

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Club
1	GK	Samson Aseffa	December 1, 1988	EEPCO
2	DF	Degu Debebe	January 1, 1984	Saint-George SA
3	DF	Damte Hunegnaw
4	MF	Adebaw Butako		Saint-George SA
5	DF	Michael Desta	July 13, 1986
6	MF	Negatu Abebe Fentahun		Awassa City F.C.
7	FW	Said Saladin		Saint-George SA
8	MF	Mulugeta Mihret		Awassa City F.C.
9	FW	Andualem Nigussie	June 15, 1986	Saint-George SA
10	MF	Daniel Deribe	March 25, 1983	Awassa City F.C.
11	FW	Zinabu Yared
12	FW	Samuel Alemu		FC Independente
13	FW	Solomon Kebede	October 14, 1981	EEPCO
14	MF	Mohamed Mesud
15	DF	Adane Girma	January 25, 1985	Saint-George SA
16	MF	[nigist tekulu araya]]	1986	Awassa City F.C.
17	DF	Samson Mulugeta	December 14, 1983	Saint-George SA
18	GK	Jamal Sadat	July 2, 1983	Ethiopian Coffee
19	FW	Fikru-Teferra Lemessa	January 24, 1986	FK Mladá Boleslav