Oumed Oukri (right) with Adane Girma
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – His name is Oumed Oukri and he hails from the beautiful region of Gambela, in southwest Ethiopia. He is the midfield dynamo and goal scorer for top Ethiopian Premier League side, Mekelakeya (Defence Force FC), the Army team.
Oumed has scored 3 goals in 6 games in the current Premier League competition, where his team is currently sharing top spot with Ethiopian coffee.
While no one can deny his ability in the domestic league, there were some skeptics who wonder whether he can have the same impact in international competitions. Well, they don’t need to wonder no more. Oumed has finally arrived and there is nothing stopping this young and very promising player.
He was instrumental in Ethiopia’s victory over Kenya delivering a beautiful through pass to Shimelis Bekele which allowed the Hawassa City striker to score his second goal of the game. His thunderous volley shot goal against Malawi is said to be among the candidates for the tournament’s “Best Goals” and he scored a vital goal against Zambia, which proved to be the winning goal of the match for Ethiopia.
When Ethiopia faces the Ivory Coast in the semi-final on Thursday, all eyes will be on Oumed. EthioSports.com wishes him and his teammates great success.
I am Proud of Ethiopian National Team and the special one Oumed Oukri he is so talented that a good men oumed i appreciate …..
no name of ethiopia, what is wrong with you. this is not the right site to express your hate politics. football is clear of politics, race, religon… Unlike some nonsenses like yourself think. Please understand the basics, football is not racist , SPORTS 101
I’m guessing he is Eritrean.
@NonameOfEthiopia, how come you are very angry?
@Dd, what the coach said “players always tried to dibble the ball in to the goal and pass the ball around with out going for a goal.” is exactly what I said and have seen in the Ethiopian game.
Most play for the sake of passing the ball. No strategy or game reading.
I’ve played on Ethiopian teams where I would take 1-2 long range shots and they’d get mad at me while on other teams they’d encourage it as long as the shots are close to the target.
The day the Ethiopian players learn to mix things up, take long range shots and adapt to physical teams, they will go places.
I am Proud of Ethiopian National Team and the special one Oumed Oukri he is so talented.I hope he can do a lot.
@The Ugandan…
Ha, ha, ha, you end up thinking you “touched a nerve”, enjoy it, but your perception of Ethiopians is weird.
Some times it is sad to witness ,amid all these foot ball forum , there are people who find a chance to vent out their hate like our brother @NonameOfEthiopia. Whether you like it or not we are Ethiopian. Oumed is proud Ethiopian. I can see it with the way he celebrate after scoring a goal. You can feel the Ethiopian blood in him. And all the other guys like @The Uganda ,who meddle with other peoples’ business,please stay away from it, because you don’t have the faintest idea about Ethiopia. And the feeling of being Ethiopian. It is more than a word cab explain so please leave the issue as it is. We didn’t say antything about for example Lords Army do we? NO … just stick to the football
wow lovely Ethiopian boy now we r full confidence in our team keep it up
@Noname of Ethiopia… Please no hateful politics here. This is a sport site and let’s stick to the sport. Comment like yours won’t add anything positive to the sport. Where is Ato. Mamo? I hope you monitor what people post on your site.
@The Ugandan, Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t you say the Ethiopian team was better at the short passing game? I thought you said they were faster at that style. Other than that, You guys have a better chance to represent the region in the bigger continental tournaments. You guys have good players like David Obua playing for Scottish Premier League club Hearts. The only reason I’m excited about our team is because they are playing with a lot of young and up coming players. I think the coach has implemented a good balance of Ethiopian traditional short passing style with good organized football. I read somewhere he was commenting how the players always tried to dibble the ball in to the goal and pass the ball around with out going for a goal. That shows me he understands our players weaknesses and build on their strength. Honestly, I’m more excited for the future. We won CECAFA many times before but didn’t do any good for our football. With our young players and new gained confidence and continuity with coaching, I think we will be back on the African football map soon.
I am glad that Oumed Oukri is not Amara or tigre the two blood suckers of other ethiopians. I assure you if you bring all the players from gambela or any other region than Amara or tigre and train them properly, they will qualify for african cup or world cup. I am very positive and certain. EFF wants Amara dominated national team, but they will naver go anywhere. bye
@Dd, I see I touched a nerve. I asked a valid question. Ugandans have played for Rwanda, Algerians for France, a Congolese for Uganda and one Congolese is actually playing for Kenya.
Our team at that time was also very good at a short passing game but we changed it because the Ethiopians were getting too comfortable not because they were better than us. When they tried to adjust to our new style we went back to the short passes and they’d forget we could switch back easily. We got physical because they couldn’t take it, got angry and hit back only to get carded. It was a psychological thing.
I hope the current team learned to play against physical teams because African refs let games get physical. Nigeria definitely will be at home. BTW, you don’t have to be big to get physical.
I didn’t see the game but how many long range shots did the current team take in their last game? Anyway, I hope they send CIV back home.
@ The Ugandan, Please let’s stick to the football related issues. You asked a question if our national team player wearing the Ethiopian colors, who currently is playing at the CECAFA was Ethiopian? First of all, that was uncalled for. It’s self explanatory… If he wasn’t Ethiopian, he wouldn’t be on the team. I don’t like the undertone of your last post. you still don’t understand the Ethiopian Mentality. We’re one of the few people in the world who managed to live side by side regardless of the religious and language differences. Period!
Now back to the football issues. I’m assuming you played for Uganda team. You are saying the Ethiopian team was superior in football skills, so to disrupt the flow you guys chose to play dirty, right? You guys played physical and frustrated the Ethiopian players. We got your point. My question to you is, were you guys a lot bigger than our players at the time? also, unless the coach was naive he could have seen through your game plan to adjust his play accordingly. One thing I admit is, we need to work on our fitness and conditioning. These days, you don’t really need to be as big as west Africans to play good football.
Am so happy and proud of all the players. All have contributed so good and they should be given the credit. best wishes with the rest of the games left.
@ The Ugandan…
I still don’t understand, why and on what ground you have a specific image of an Ethiopian, what is “Ethiopian … look” like? Where do you got that idea?
Me too, I know Uganda well and got my A-level ceritficate and first degree in Uganda.
@Bisrat & Dr. Dre, I know Ethiopia well. My fiance is Ethiopian and know my ancestors migrated from there. I have played against Ethiopians in Africa and with them in the US (DC & Seattle).
I am also fully aware of the ethnic tensions in Ethiopia and know “diversity in harmony” is goal not reality. However, it’s good to see all Ethiopians backing Oumed. Football truly brings people together.
When I played against Ethiopia, our team used to play the same short passing game, but Ethiopians played it faster and were more comfortable with it. So the coach asked us to mix things up. To wait for them at the back and counter attack with long rangers. When we lost the ball we got physical. When they adjusted we played he short passing game again. It worked! Amazingly the Ethiopian goalie wasn’t used to long range shots and they insisted on shooting in the 16yd box which made it easier to defend. Their players got angry the physical game and hit back stupidly which earned them cards and more frustration. If you’re going to win in Africa learn to mix things up and play against physical teams. Oumed Oukri is a start.