Ethiopia’s senior player Shimelis Bekele has described their win against Egypt on Thursday night as a sweet one.
The Ethiopian team stopped the six time African champions Egypt 2-0 in a Group D match of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 qualifiers.
Although the Egyptian team playing without skipper and Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah dominated play, they failed to break the Ethiopian defending line.
Dawa Hottesa Dukele gave the Ethiopian team the lead after 21 minutes at the Bingu National Stadium in Malawi. He capitalized on a clever cross by Abubeker Nassi and made no mistake giving Ethiopia the lead.
Bekele who plies his trade with Egyptian Premier League club El Gouna FC also got his name on the score sheet after 40 minutes
The Ethiopians did add to their tally just before half-time as Egypt-based Shimelis Bekele was on target.
“This is a very sweet win for us. We lost the first match to Malawi and winning this one means a lot to us,” said a happy Bekele.
Wubetu Abate, the Ethiopian head coach said his players responded according to instructions. “I am happy that the players gave their best and got a good result. We need to keep working hard because there are more games to come in the qualifiers,” added Abate.
📹 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒: 🇪🇹 2-0 🇪🇬
Bekele & Hotessa both score to write history for Ethiopia as they register a crucial victory against Egypt for the first time in 33 years! ✨#TotalEnergiesAFCONQ2023 | @footballethiop | @EFA pic.twitter.com/lpRWc2nO6k
— CAF (@CAF_Online) June 9, 2022
The win sends Ethiopia top of the group with a better goal difference since all the teams each have three points after two matches.
