Bekele names Ethiopia squad for Ghana clash

Ethiopia coach Ashenafi Bekele has named a 22-man squad to face Ghana in a Group F Day One clash on Sunday in Kumasi.

Bekele has called-up predominantly home-based players with only two foreign-based players, Shemelese Bekele and Oumed Okuri. Okuri, who plies his trade for Cairo-based El-Entag El-Harby had a superb season in Egypt after bagging 11 goals in all competition.

Saint George trio Salahdin Said, Asechalew Tamene and Salahdin Bargicho have also managed to get included in the squad.

Ethiopia Premier League top goal scorer Getaneh Kebede, midfielder Gatoch Panom and veteran goalie Jemal Tassew retain their places in Bekele’s squad. Abdulrhaman Mubarak and Gadisa Mebrate have been handed their debut call ups.

Goalkeeper Tekelemariam Shanko, striker Ame Mohammed, winger Ephrem Ashamo and defenders Ahmed Reshide and Awet Gebremikael failed to make the travelling party to Ghana.

The Walia Antelopes played out one test match last Saturday against Uganda, which ended barren.

Bekele told CAFOnline.com prior to the team’s departure to Kumasi in the early hours of Thursday said that his charges were acquainted with Ghana and their style of play.

“As we all know Ghana is one of the best teams in Africa and the world too. The game will be very tough for us. Keeping that in mind, we have seen some video footage of the Ghana team and we are ready to get a point in Kumasi,” Bekele said.

He also noted the friendly game against Uganda has helped them prepare for the Ethiopia clash.

“We may not fully know our weaknesses and strengths but we managed to get some inputs,” said Bekele.

Meanwhile, Sierra Leone will face Kenya in the other Group F clash on Saturday in Freetown.

Full Squad
Goalkeepers: Abel Mamo (Defense Force), Jemal Tassew (Jimma Aba Coffee), Lealem Birhanu (Sidama Coffee)

Defenders: Abdulkerim Mohammed (Ethiopian Coffee), Asechalew Tamene, Salahdin Bargicho (Saint George), Addis Tesfaye (Defense Force), Tesfaye Bekele, Mujib Kassim (Both Adama City), Seyoum Tesfaye (Dedebit), Aneteneh Tesfaye (Sidama Coffee)

Midfielders: Shemelese Bekele (Petrojet, Egypt), Biruk Kalbore (Adama City), Shemekit Gugesa (Dedebit), Gatoch Panom (Ethiopian Coffee), Mulualem Mesfin (Sidama Coffee), Gadisa Mebrate (Hawassa City)

Forwards: Getaneh Kebede (Dedebit), Salahdin Said (Saint George), Abdulrhaman Mubarak (Fasil City), Oumed Okuri (El-Entag El-Harby, Egypt), Addis Gidey (Sidama Coffee) 

Fixtures

Group A

9.06.2017      Obeid            Sudan vs Madagascar

10.06.2017    Dakar            Senegal vs Equatorial Guinea

Group B

10.06.2017    Yaounde        Cameroon vs Morocco

10.06.2017    Lilongwe        Malawi vs Comoros   

Group C

10.06.2017    Bamako         Mali vs Gabon

10.06.2017    Bujumbura    Burundi vs South Sudan

Group D

11.06.2017    Blida              Algeria vs Togo

11.06.2017    Cotonou         Benin vs Gambia

Group E

9.06.2017      Cairo             Libya vs Seychelles

10.06.2017    Uyo               Nigeria vs South Africa

Group F

10.06.2017    Freetown       Sierra Leone vs Kenya

11.06.2017    Kumasi          Ghana vs Ethiopia

Group G

10.06.2017    Kinshasa        DR Congo vs Congo

11.06.2017    Harare           Zimbabwe vs Harare

Group H

10.06.2017    Bouake          Cote d’Ivoire vs Guinea

11.06.2017    Bangui           Central African Rep. vs Rwanda

Group I

10.06.2017    Ouagadougou Burkina Faso vs Angola

10.06.2017    Francistown   Botswana vs Mauritania

Group J

10.06.2017    Niamey          Niger vs Swaziland

11.06.2017    Tunis             Tunisia vs Egypt

Group K

10.06.2017    Ndola            Zambia vs Mozambique

10.06.2017    Bissau           Guinea Bissau vs Namibia

Group L

10.06.2017    Praira                      Cape Verde vs Uganda

10.06.2017    Dar es Salaam          Tanzania vs Lesotho

Source: CAFonline.com