Ethiopia national team head coach Wubetu Abate claims that his side will take lessons from their TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations opening game defeat against Cape Verde.
The Blue Sharks needed a first-half stoppage time goal to beat Ethiopia 1-0 at the Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé.
A pinpoint Julio Tavares close range header secured the victory against the Walias who were reduced to 10 men following Yared Bayeh’s early dismissal.
“We lacked experience against a good Cape Verdean team. A defeat is true but we will learn lessons for our next matches.”
“We played almost the entire game in a numerical inferiority and that did not help us especially physically,” Wubetu Abate said.
Meanwhile, Cape Verde assistant coach Humberto Bettencourt was left a happy man following an opening game victory for his side.
“I would like to dedicate this victory to all the players and the technical staff who participated in our qualification for this TotalEnergies AFCON and who could not come.”
“I also dedicate it to all the Cape Verdeans who support us. We are happy to our collective performance and also the distinction of Rocha as Man of The Match.”
“Three important points for us for the race to the qualification in the next round.”
“We knew the quality of the Ethiopian team and that helped us during the game, we took advantage of the spaces in the middle of the field and played our best football to get the points for the victory,” he noted.
The Blue Sharks joined hosts Cameroon at the top of the Group A following their action packed 2-1 victory earlier in the day.
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