It was a sad day for Ethiopia yesterday. Half was by her own making and the other half by Cameroonian ref Néant Alioum.
.
The Waila Antelopes sprung out of the gates eager to take advantage of their home field and score early. They were aggressive and persistent but rather than focus on perfecting that final pass, exhausted too much time playing to the galley. One attack for instance featured four back heel passes and there is no coach on earth that would not consider that reckless showmanship and best left in the circus.
.
One coach that was impressed with their overall play was Keshi himself who said ""Ethiopia were awesome today - they played good,". Keshi also revealed part of his game plan which was to play possum in the first half and conserve energy. This explains why he was constantly looking at his watch."We (went) with our game plan, we just wanted to see how Ethiopia play at home," he told Fifa reporters afterward.
.
While Enyeama was not really tested in the first half, it was not because the opportunity did not arise. It was there ample a time but was either ballooned of hoofed away by the overeager Ethiopians. To make matters worse when Shaladin did score it was not given; and that seemed to drain the emotion from the entire stadium except from the visitors stand.