“It was not our day”, National Coach Sewnet Bishaw

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Ethiopia played out a goalless draw against visiting Benin in the first leg of the first round qualifier of the Orange 2013 Africa Cup of Nation match played in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, reported CAFonline.com.

Benin frustrated the Ethiopian side with some solid defensive play but ten minutes in to the first half, the Ethiopian striker Omod Okwury could have opened the  scoring only to fluff the opportunity. The hosts had more of the play and came close again after  creating  another chance but Getaneh Kebede’s strike went wide.

Kebede did beat the  Benin keeper Fabien Farnolle but the striker fell down before slotting the ball home much to the disbelief of the home crowd. Meanwhile  Benin coach Manuel Amoros   expressed delight at the result.  “I am very happy with  the result. The Ethiopian players were good in played some neat short passes creating scoring opportunities. But they were not able to penetrate our solid defensive play,” he said. He added that he is hopeful to beat the Ethiopian side in the return leg.

As for the Ethiopian head coach Sewnet Bishaw it was never in doubt who dominated possession but he was disappointed his side could not convert the created chances. When the coach  brought in Adane Girma, the scorer of the winning lone goal for St. George Club against the Gabonese side AS Mangasport some 12 days ago in the Orange CAF Confederation cup there were hopes for goals but it wasn’t to be.

“I did what I could. . We had plenty of  scoring opportunities. In one or two instances l still cannot explain how we did not score. I thought  Omod Okwury had scored when he reached the goal mouth in the first half but I couldn’t believe my eyes when the ball went wide,”  said  Bishaw.

The teams meet again in the return leg in Benin in June with the winner going through to the next round of the 2013 Orange  African Cup of Nations to be played in South Africa.