The Ethiopian head coach Wubetu Abate has said the two friendly matches his team played against Uganda Cranes have been good tests ahead of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier.
Abate’s team stopped Uganda Cranes in the first international friendly 1-0 a few days ago before settling for a 0-0 draw in the second match played in Adama City on Sunday.
“Uganda is a strong team and playing them twice has helped our team prepare better ahead of our match against Rwanda. Playing the friendly matches is totally different from training and the players and technical bench have benefited a lot,” added Abate.
Ethiopia will host Rwanda in the first leg on August 26th at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, before the return leg in Huye, Rwanda on September 3rd.
Abate said the friendly matches have helped him get a better assessment of the players since they had completed playing in the Ethiopia Premier League some weeks ago.
“We know playing Rwanda will not be easy, but we are determined to get a good result in the first leg before thinking about the return leg,” added Abate.
Uganda Cranes coach Milutin Sredojevic also said the two friendly matches provided good ground for his players to get more competitive mileage in their legs.
“This has been a very good trip because we know what to improve in the remaining few days,” added Sredojevic.
Uganda Cranes will face Tanzania, while Djibouti take on Sudan in the other CHAN qualifiers pitting teams from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Zone.
