By Admin,

Ethiopia’s Walia Ibex face a daunting and unimaginable task on this weekend when they face off with Africa’s number 1 ranked team Algeria Dessert Foxes who just two months away mesmerized Africa with their sublime performance at the FIFA 2014 World Cup hosted by Brazil and have continued to create shock waves being the first country to qualify for Afcon 2014 with a match in hand courtesy of sublime wins both home and away.

It will be a weekend not laden with any statistics as Ethiopia Walia Ibex will face the herculean task just a week after a morale sapping 3-0 loss to Uganda Cranes in Kampala and the reality that the best strikers Salhadin Said and Getaneh Kebede will be missing from the ding dong battle.

Ethiopia’s morale boasting 3-2 win over Mali away from home when almost all hopes had been dead and buried kind of resuscitated their valid dreams but again facing Algeria is a task no coach envisages as they have been in red hot form winning all their matches as they beat Ethiopia 2-1 in Addis Ababa,crushing Mali 2-0 at home and beating Malawi by the same margin away in Blantrye ensuring they got maximum 9 points from Etthiopia’s 3 points.

Coach Mariano Barreto has his work cut out for him as he rebuilds the team bringing in youngsters the going has not been smooth as expected with losses to Mali at home,Malawi away and Algeria at home as he seeks to emulate his predecessor Sewnet Bishaw who left an indelible mark at the helm of the national that qualified for the 2013 Afcon hosted by South Africa.

Mariano Barreto’s record since taking over Walia Ibex reads 9 losses, 1 draw and one win in both friendly and competitive matches so far in his reign that begun in early April with four losses in the Brazil tour and one loss against Angola in an International friendly in Luanda,3 losses in the ongoing Afcon 2015 qualifiers,a win against Mali away and a loss against Uganda Cranes in an International friendly .

Every Ethiopia fan is holding their breath in was has been anticipated to be a battle between David and Golliath with Algeria looking rough,ready,dangerous and buoyant the question remains can Ethiopia Walia Ibex cause an Upset?Its a tough call in what the bookmakers have given Algeria a great headstart however as we all know football has no shame and anything can happen .

Ethiopia last won Afcon 1962 when they hosted the tourney and have never been able to achieve the same fete to date.

The Ethiopia vs. Algeria  game will be the forth for the Desert Foxes’ new French coach, Christian Gourcuff, who succeeded to Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic, whose contract ended following the World Cup.

Algeria has qualified for four World Cups in 1982, 1986, 2010 and 2014. Algeria has also won the African Cup of Nations once in 1990, when they hosted the tournament. At the 2014 World Cup, Algeria became the first African team to score four goals in a match at the World Cup after scoring four goals against South Korea and they have replicated their form by being the first team to qualify for the 2015 Afcon .

Players to watch for Algeria will include

Ethiopia v Algeria Head-to-Head:

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