Ethiopia women's national team head coach Yoseph Gebreweld said his side accomplished their mission of turning their first round duel around after they dumped out Uganda 5-4 on penalties in the 2026 Women African Cup of Nations qualifier following a 2-2 aggregate draw.
Gebreweld looked elated after the win and told reporters that Uganda came to Addis to defend their 2-0 lead. “The first game was away so we wanted to get something from it. We lost the away game. We knew it would be tough here. Because Uganda had a 2-0 advantage and their approach would be defensive. They were trying to kill time and opt for long balls. We knew all of that.”
Gebreweld clarified that missed chances in the first half made the tie difficult but Lucy did well to come back and level the aggregate score. “In the first 45 minutes we squandered chances. After the first half we were good. We scored and took the game to penalties. We were under heavy pressure but we maintained that. The first goal gave us hope to continue until the end.”
Ethiopia needed a last gasp equalizer from Estegent Girma as Gebreweld noted his charges had limited preparation time. The coach further added his reign will carry on to build the side to make it stronger. “The time was short. We had 15 days and it is a good start. We are building something here.”
Ethiopia last qualified for WAFCON in 2012. They are attempting to reach WAFCON after 14 years wait and will face either Tanzania in the final round after the Twiga Stars confirmed a 4-2 aggregate victory over Equatorial Guinea today.
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