Ethiopia women national team coach Yoseph Gebreweld vowed to fight back when his charges face Uganda in the second leg of their 2026 Women's African Cup of Nations qualifier in Addis Ababa. Uganda have a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Kampala.
Video: Uganda 2-0 Ethiopia WAFCON Qualifying first leg highlights
Gebreweld acknowledged Lucy were not up to par in the first leg. "We lost 2-0. The way we played was not bad. But the weather and pitch condition was tough. We tried to control the situation. But we lost concentration in the dying moments."
Uganda were much better than Ethiopia as they controlled the tie from the onset. Gebreweld stated he never expected Uganda to fare like this as the home side successfully neutralized his strikers during the tie.
"Our aim was to take something from the first leg not to defend the whole 90 minutes. We used our three best strikers (Loza, Senaf and Emush). But the opposition knew more about us. It really surprised me. They pressed us well. We tried to build from the back but that plan failed."
Lucy will be hoping to turn the table around when the two sides meet at the Abebe Bikila Memorial Stadium on Wednesday.
"The game is not yet over. We are playing at home and we believe that we will win and qualify. We have the confidence at home."
Gebreweled further noted Ethiopia will play offensive football to score goals and get back to the tie early. "We will try to reach the final third swiftly. We have to score early so that we should be very fast on transition. We will rectify our mistakes. We don't want to give them space in set pieces too."
Ethiopia is in a tight situation to qualify for WAFCON following their first leg defeat. The hopes of reaching for their first ever WAFCON since 2012 hang on balance. Ethiopian Football Federation secretary general Bahiru Tilahun a week ago said Gebreweld 's stay as the national side coach is directly linked with WAFCON qualification.
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