Ethiopia eye victory in TotalEnergies CHAN 2022 opener

When Ethiopia face Mozambique in their Group A opening match on Saturday, 14 January at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algeria, Wubetu Abate’s side will be keen on registering a positive result.

The Walia Ibex find themselves in a tricky pool with the hosts Algeria as well as former CHAN winners Libya and will be akin to treating every game as a final.

“My team gains experience with every competition that they play. Our ambitions for this tournament are to qualify for the knockout stages. The team has improved enormously over the past year, not only tactically and technically, but also mentally. Often, the physical aspect of the game has failed us, but I can tell you that I have 26 Ethiopian champions ready to fight against Mozambique.”

“Our objective for this game is to win at all costs because it is important to start this tournament with a victory. During the AFCON in Cameroon, we somehow reconnected with our fans even though we had not won any matches. We want to give them a great victory in this CHAN,” Abate said with a big smile.

The veteran Ethiopian coach did not shy away from praising his opponents Mozambique and said, “We have been really preparing for this game for a few weeks. We did video sessions to analyze the game of the Mozambicans. They are a dynamic team. They are well conditioned. As soon as the game starts, they build their tempo and are consistent throughout the game.”

Ethiopia’s captain Mohamed Mesut further added that, “It is a formidable team. We do not hope for a gift for the first match. We will have to stay focused and above all respond to the intensity they will come with to this match.”

The Ethiopia and Mozambique match will kickoff at 1300 GMT.