Eritrea national football team

Eritrea
Nickname(s) Red Sea Camels
(Template:Lang-Tigrigna) [1]
Association Eritrean National Football Federation
Confederation CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation CECAFA (East & Central Africa)
Head coach Alemseged Efrem
Captain Henok Goitom
Home stadium Cicero Stadium
FIFA code ERI
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 205 Steady (24 November 2016)
Highest 121[2] (August 2007)
Lowest 205 (July–November 2016)
Elo ranking
Current 178
First international
 Sudan 1–1 Eritrea Ethiopia
(Khartoum, Sudan; June 26, 1992)
Biggest win
Eritrea Eritrea 3–1 Somalia 
(Nairobi, Kenya; 5 December 2009)
Biggest defeat
 Ethiopia 9–0 Eritrea Eritrea
(Asmara, Eritrea; August 18, 1993)

The Eritrea national football team (Amharic: ሃገራዊት ጋንታ ኩዕሶ እግሪ አርትራ?) is controlled by the Eritrean National Football Federation (ENFF). It is nicknamed the Red Sea Boys. It has neither qualified for the finals of the FIFA World Cup nor the Africa Cup of Nations. Local side Red Sea FC are the main supplier for the national football team of Eritrea.

History

An Eritrean team was invited to a friendly tournament in Sudan in 1992, the year before Eritrea achieved independence.[3] Eritrea participated in the 1994 CECAFA Cup, organised by the Council for East and Central Africa Football Association,[3] even though the ENFF was not founded until 1996.[4] The first full international was in the 1998 CECAFA Cup,[3][5] the year the ENFF joined the CAF[6] and FIFA.[4] They participated in the qualifying rounds of the 2000 African Nations Cup and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and subsequent editions until 2008.[3] They have also appeared intermittently in the CECAFA Cup.[3][7]

In 2000 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, Eritrea managed a scoreless home draw versus Cameroon and a 1-0 home win over Mozambique. They finished second in their three team group, and advanced to a playoff round where they faced Senegal and Zimbabwe, but ultimately lost all four matches in that final stage.

In the first round of qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, they were drawn against Nigeria, and were defeated 4–0 in the away leg,[8] after a goalless draw at home.[9] The coach was Yilmaz Yuceturk.[8]

In 2006 World Cup qualification, Sudan was Eritrea's first round opponent. Eritrea lost the first leg 3–0,[10] before another goalless draw in Asmara.[11] The coach was Eritrean Tekie Abraha.[10][11]

In qualification group 6 for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, under the guidance of Romanian Dorian Marin, Eritrea finished second behind Angola, failing to qualify for the final tournament. They beat Kenya twice and drew at home to Angola.

In 2014 World Cup qualification, Eritrea faced Rwanda in the first round. The first leg in Asmara ended 1-1 (and saw Eritrea's first ever goal in World Cup qualification), but Rwanda took the second leg by a score of 3-1.

Recent years have seen a high number of refugees leaving Eritrea[12][13] and some athletes travelling to competitions abroad have taken the opportunity to abscond.[14] In December 2012, 17 Eritrean footballers and the team doctor vanished after the CECAFA championship tournament in Uganda and all applied for asylum in the country.[15][16][17] Four players of Red Sea FC defected after a CAF Champions League 2006 match in Nairobi, Kenya,[18] and up to 12 members of the national side after the 2007 CECAFA Cup in Tanzania.[12][19] Another 6 players sought asylum in Angola in March 2007 after a game in qualification group 6 for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.[20][21] Three more players from the national team sought asylum in Sudan.[22]

Eritrea withdrew from the 2008 CECAFA Cup,[23] and from the common qualifying tournament shared by the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2010 African Cup of Nations.[24] Given the number of players seeking asylum, the Eritrean government began requiring athletes to pay a 100,000 nakfa surety before traveling abroad.[18]

Eritrea returned to the 2009 CECAFA Cup in Nairobi. A young squad was assembled with just 12 days' training.[23] In Group B, they gained a surprise draw with Zimbabwe,[1] lost narrowly to Rwanda,[25] and beat Somalia 3–1.[26] They were easily beaten 4–0 in the quarter-finals by Tanzania.[23] Twelve squad members failed to report for the return flight, and sought the assistance of the Refugee Consortium of Kenya.[12][13] They were believed to be in hiding in Eastleigh, an eastern suburb of Nairobi home to many immigrants.[27] Nicholas Musonye, the secretary-general of CECAFA, feared that the government might react by refusing to let the team travel abroad in future.[13] The twelve players were later granted interim asylum by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kenya.[28] Eleven of these players have since travelled to Adelaide in Australia[29] with two of them, Samuel Ghebrehiwet and Ambes Sium, signing for Gold Coast United in the A-League in August, 2011.[30]

Nine players and the coach disappeared in Kenya in December 2013.[31]

In 2018 World Cup qualification 10 players from the Eritrean football team have refused to return home after playing a World Cup qualifying match in Botswana and have been granted asylum there, officials say.[32]

Competitive record

World Cup record

Africa Cup of Nations record

Current squad

The following players were called up for the team in September 2015.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Fena Sikerim 0 0 Eritrea Red Sea
22 1GK Menasie Solomon 0 0 Eritrea Adulis
23 1GK Sium Bokretsen 0 0 Eritrea Denden
5 2DF Senai Birhane 2 0 Sweden Sundbybergs IK
8 3MF Samyomi Alexander 2 0
13 3MF Amir Hassan Idris 0 0 England Pontefract Collieries
7 3MF Yonas Solomon 2 0
18 3MF La'el Daniel (1997-09-12) 12 September 1997 0 0
31 3MF Samuel T. Simon (1998-05-17) 17 May 1998 0 0
10 4FW Henok Goitom (1984-09-22) 22 September 1984 2 1 United States San Jose Earthquakes
19 4FW Mussie Negassi 0 0 Eritrea Red Sea
11 4FW Sirak Beyene (1996-10-20) 20 October 1996 5 0 England London Tigers
15 4FW Semir Idris 0 0 England Pontefract Collieries

List of coaches

References

  1. 1 2 Pilipili, Oscar (12 December 2009). "Zimbabwe held 0–0 by Eritrea". The Standard. Nairobi. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  2. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=eri/ranking/gender=m/index.html
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Courtney, Barrie (31 January 2008). "Eritrea International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  4. 1 2 "Eritrea on FIFA.com". FIFA.com. FIFA. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Eritrea Matches From 01.01.1872 To 30.11.2010". FIFA. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "Eritrean National Football Federation (ENFF)". Cafonline.com. CAF. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  7. ↑ Stokkermans, Karel (11 December 2009). "East and Central African Championship (CECAFA)". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  8. 1 2 "First stage: Nigeria - Eritrea 4:0 (2:0)". 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Preliminaries. FIFA. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  9. ↑ "First stage: Eritrea - Nigeria 0:0". 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Preliminaries. FIFA. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  10. 1 2 "Play-off: Sudan - Eritrea 3:0 (0:0)". 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Preliminaries. FIFA. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  11. 1 2 "Play-off: Eritrea - Sudan 0:0". 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Preliminaries. FIFA. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  12. 1 2 3 Wyatt, Ben (15 December 2009). "Kenyan police search for missing footballers". London: CNN. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  13. 1 2 3 Odula, Tom (15 December 2009). "12 Eritrea soccer players defect during tournament in Kenya; UN will hear case". Canadian Press. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  14. ↑ Pflanz, Mike (15 December 2009). "Eritrean football team missing after match in Kenya". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  15. ↑ Oryada, Andrew Jackson (5 December 2012). "Eritrean players seek asylum in Uganda". BBC. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  16. ↑ Nakiyimba, Gloria (6 December 2012). "Eritrea's football team seek asylum in Uganda, citing persecution". RFI English. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  17. ↑ Oryada, Andrew Jackson (4 December 2012). "Eritrea players missing in Uganda after regional championship". BBC. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  18. 1 2 "Eritrea players go missing in Kenya". AFP. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  19. ↑ "Official: Players say death awaits them in Eritrea". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  20. ↑ "Eritrean footballers join row of asylum seekers". afrol.com. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  21. ↑ "Angola considers asylum claims". BBC. 28 March 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  22. ↑ "Three Eritrean Players Seek Asylum in Sudan". Sudan Vision. 25 November. Retrieved 18 December 2009. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. 1 2 3 Wandera, Gilbert (9 December 2009). "Tanzania hit Eritrea to make semi-final". The Standard. Nairobi. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  24. ↑ "Eritrea withdraw from qualifiers". FIFA. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  25. ↑ Toskin, Robin (4 December 2009). "Eritrean goalkeeper's effort not good enough". The Standard. Nairobi. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  26. ↑ "Eritrea crush Somalia as Rwanda pip Zims". The Standard. Nairobi. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  27. ↑ Xinhua (16 December 2009). "Kenya Searches for 12 "Missing" Eritrean Players". CRI. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  28. ↑ Ombati, Cyrus (18 December 2009). "12 Eritrean footballers granted asylum". The Standard. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  29. ↑ http://assenna.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2845:11-members-of-the-eritrean-national-football-team-who-abscond-last-year-in-nairobi-arrive-at-adelaide-city-safely&catid=18:news&Itemid=70
  30. ↑ Sportal Australia (26 August 2011). "Gold Coast Sign Refugee Pair". Australian FourFourTwo. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  31. ↑ "Eritrean players and coach missing in Kenya". BBC. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  32. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34534975
  33. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=ERI/about.html

External links

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