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Ethiopia 1-Malawi 3
Coach Alan Gillett parted ways with the Flames in a spectacular and fabulous fashion, guiding them to a 3-1 victory over Ethiopia in a World Cup preliminary first leg in the capital Addis Ababa on Sunday.
Russian-based hitman Essau Kanyenda struck a double while South Africa-based midfielder Peter Mgangira hit the third to put the Flames in the comfort zone ahead of the second leg scheduled for next month in Blantyre.
It was a hugely significant victory for the Briton who bid farewell to his troops Monday and is scheduled to fly back to England Tuesday morning.
Speaking in a telephone interview from Wabe Shabelle Hotel in the horn of Africa, Gillett said: “Perhaps I can now say goodbye to Malawian people, the road might have been very bumpy since I took over but at least I got a clean victory.
“It was very exciting to see the players celebrating after the final whistle whilst waving their arms in the air. Credit should go to the players, they did a very good job. You could see the anger in their eyes after all the criticism that came after the Cosafa Castle Cup loss to Zimbabwe. They had something to prove,” said Gillett.
The victory will go a long way in erasing the nightmare of losing to Zimbabwe in the Castle Cup finals on 4-1 aggregate.
“I had some solace...I had some peace when I called the players to say goodbye, they were sad but I told them life has to go on. I have also assured them that my heart will be with the team throughout,” said Gillett.
According to a report from Ethiosports.com, the Ethiopians lacked character, passion, and industry as they sunk to their first defeat on home turf for eight years.
Getu Teshome’s goal nine minutes before time proved to be the only consolation leaving a 30,000 capacity crowd in the Addis Ababa booing its players at the final whistle.
Despite their earlier capitulation, Ethiopia had begun the match brightly and Yordanos Abay was unlucky to see a beautiful free kick hit the Malawian right hand post after goalkeeper Phillip Nyasulu had fouled the Ethiopian Coffee striker at the edge of the box.
But as the half wore on, Ethiopia’s grip on the game loosened and it was no surprise when Malawi took a deserved lead on 39 minutes. Kanyenda beautifully skipped his marker to divert the ball past a hapless Tsega’zeab Asgedom in the Ethiopian goal with the defence caught totally off-guard.
The southern Africans were incensed moments later by a decision that saw the Egyptian referee wave play on after Malawi’s Russell Mwafulirwa was clearly brought down in the Ethiopian penalty box by Samson Mulugeta. But despite the cries of their coach Gillett, the two sides went into the break with Malawi leading by the solitary goal.
After the break, Ethiopia’s coach Seyoum Kebede brought on Mesfin Abebe and Mulualem Regassa for the ineffective midfield duo of Hyder Mensour and Ethiopian player of the year Ashenafi Girma.
But unlike the matches against Guinea and Liberia in the Nations Cup qualifiers, Regassa failed to mastermind a recovery. They were outclassed in the midfield led by Malawi’s captain John Maduka.
Instead, it was Malawi who doubled their lead through Kanyenda, who was left to tap into the Ethiopian net after good work from Mwafulirwa and Fisher Kondowe.
The goal put Malawi on the ascendancy and it took a couple of spectacular saves from Tsegazeab Asgedom to deny the Malawian players from turning the fixture into an embarrassment as Kondowe and Kanyenda, in particular, were allowed too much space to run at the Ethiopian defense.
With nothing to lose, Ethiopia pushed men forward and it took some stroke of luck at the other half of the field to prevent the home side from narrowing the deficit.
With 20 minutes left, Debrom Hagos came on for Tamrat Abebe, but he too was not effective. It was Getu Teshome who took advantage of some slack marking to score Ethiopia’s consolation goal with nine minutes left in normal time.
The goal revived the Ethiopian players who tried hard to grab a surprise equaliser. But it also left more room at the back with Anwar Siraj the lone defender in Ethiopia’s half of the pitch.
Malawi capped a memorable afternoon which saw them confirm their status as one of Africa’s emerging soccer nations with a goal seconds before full time. Kondowe again run past two defenders and floated a cross to Peter Mgangira, whose right foot volley flew into Ethiopia’s right hand corner with a courageous Asgedom well and truly beaten.
Teams:
Malawi: Nyasulu; Patrick Mabedi; Emmanuel Chipatala; Peter Mponda; Russell Mwafulirwa; John Maduka (c); Essau Kanyenda; Itayi Nundwe; Peter Mgangira Jr; Heston Munthali (Robert Ng’ambi); Fisher Kondowe
Ethiopia: Tsegazeab Asgedom; Zewdu Bekele; Tamrat Abebe (Debrom Hagos); Anwar Siraj (c); Samson Mulugeta; Hyder Mensur (Mesfin Abebe); Ibrahim Hussein; Getu Teshome; Ashenafi Girma (Mulualem Regassa); Andualem Negussie; Yordanos Abay
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