Walia Ibex Coach Yohannes Saleh has thanked the fans for keeping faith in the team and for their strong support yesterday saying they did not at any given time counted themselves out against Tanzania.

Ethiopia badly needed to avoid defeat to Taifa Stars in the their last group “A” tie yesterday to qualify to the quarters as one of the best qualifiers, but they found themselves trailing by Simon Msuva’s 54th minute goal with only added minutes left to the final whistle.

Backed by a fully packed Awassa International Stadium, they pushed even more for the equalizer which came in the 92nd minute thanks to Salim Mbonde’s own goal from Aschalew Girma’s cross from the right.

“We never counted ourselves out, but when you play against a team that has nothing to lose then it’s hard because they are relaxed. We thank our supporters because they stood by the team and we didn’t disappoint them,” Saleh said.

“Next up is knock out and we can’t play like we played because then we will have a lot of opportunities unlike in this one when we only needed to avoid defeat. We will go all out for a win,”

Ethiopia employed a defensive approach – a strategy which failed at the eleventh hour and Saleh admits they will have a different approach when they meet Tanzania again on Monday 30 in Addis in the quarters.

“We have a day to rest and lay a strategy to qualify for semis on Monday. I am positive we have what it takes to sail through.” He concluded.

@bonfaceosano