FT Sao Tome e Principe 1-0 Ethiopia

Sao Tome e Principe, an island state of 200,000 inhabitants off the Gabon coast, shocked Ethiopia 1-0 in the first leg of their 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia qualifier.

Portugal-born Luis Leal scored three minutes from time at Estadio National 12 de Julho in Sao Tome to give the fourth weakest African national team by rankings an unexpected victory. Ethiopia, 85 places above the Saotomeans in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, host the second leg of the first-round tie in Addis Ababa Sunday with a match-up against Congo at stake.

Leal, a 28-year-old striker on loan to Belenenses of Portugal from APOEL of Cyprus, rewarded an impressive performance by a country with some unhappy World Cup memories. Sao Tome were overwhelmed 5-0 at home by Congo in a 2014 qualifier and crumbled 8-0 away to Libya in an earlier competition.

The islanders faced Ethiopia desperate to shake off poor CAF Africa Cup of Nations form with a 7-1 away drubbing from Cape Verde last June followed by a 3-0 home loss to Morocco a month ago. Ethiopia had produced more satisfactory results in the same competition, winning at home against Lesotho and drawing in the Seychelles.

But the Sao Tome setback is sure to spark criticism of coach Yohannes Sahle for dumping strikers Salahdin Said, Getaneh Kebede and Oumed Oukri. Said was a key figure in the 2014 qualifiers when Ethiopia exceeded expectations by reaching the play-offs before losing to Nigeria.

The game begun like a house on fire with Ethiopia Walia Ibex strikers led by Dawit Fikadu troubling the hosts as they piled pressure to try and break the deadlock however the hosts remained relentless the game going to the break 0-0.

The second half was no different as both sides pushed forward to get the elusive goal but it was Sao Tome’s striker Leal who struck at the heart of Ethiopia poking in a later winner past a hapless Tarik Getnet as the hosts held on to the famous win .

The return leg of the match will be played on Sunday 11 in Addis Ababa, aggregate winner proceeds to round 2.

The loss to Sao Tome and Principe raised fury on Ethiopian fans who called on coach Yohannes Sahle to resign after the loss which they described as shocking .Apparently the coach dropped the team skipper Salhadin Said,Getaneh Kebede and Umed Ukuri from the team deciding to remain with young upcoming players.

One fan Rami Tomas Akel wrote on facebook “He should leave our national team we are not happy at all.He is disrespectful to Ethiopia football lovers that is why he was overconfident and dropped players like captain Salahdin Said ,Getaneh and Umed”

Micky Dege “I am annoyed as a fan overconfidence has caused us that is why we call on the coach to step aside”

Coach Yohannes Saheh has named “Walia Ibex” starting XI to face São Tomé and Principe in the FIFA World Cup 2018 preliminaries this evening.

Ethiopia Starting XI:

Tarik Getnet – Seyoum Tesfaye – Anteneh Tesfaye – Aschalew Tamene – Tekalegn Dejene – Bereket Yisehaq – Gatoch Panom – Shimeles Bekele – Ephrem Ashamo – Ramkel Lok – Dawit Fikadu

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com