on september 17, 2013 at 12:55 am in sports

Kelechi Emetiole played for Nigeria in the 1976 Nations Cup in Ethiopia.

He was an utility player. He played in the defence, in midfield and in the attack during his days. Any position that coach Father Tiko  had a problem in, he would switch Kelechi, fondly called Caterpillar, to that position.

When Nigeria were drawn to play Ethiopia in the last 2014 World Cup hurdle in Brazil we knew that his comments would be interesting. Said he:

“When we played at the Nations Cup in 1976, things were difficult in Ethiopia then. There was heavy drought and it affected their lives badly. Things are better there now. Their football has improved tremendously. We saw what they did at the last Nations Cup in South Africa. Our victory will depend on the goals that we could score here in Nigeria. When you play in Ethiopia, there will always be the weather factor because of their high altitude.

You could play for 90 minutes and you would not sweat. But you will be finding it difficult to breath. It is,  therefore, important to acclimatize in their weather before the match. That could be done by training in a neighbouring country like Tanzania before arriving in Ethiopia. Before then, our locals could camp in Sokoto or Maiduguri.

We have the players to beat them but we must respect them and work hard. Being a team that had no rich football history they just play the game and try to have fun. That makes them a difficult side. They just play and try to work out their game plan and they don’t get intimidated by names. The game could be won by the goals we score here in Nigeria in the second leg.  But a good preparation can also make us come out with a clean result when we play away.

Kojo Williams.

Those Ethiopians will not be easy to beat. We should win but it will not be easy. They will be difficult. From what we saw at the Nations Cup, they are a technical side who lacked the power in the attack to convert their chances. But having gotten this far, you will be undoing yourself to underrate them. I think that Ethiopia will amount to some trouble for us with their weather and game.

Christian Chukwu

Ethiopia could be slippery. We have to be very careful. Weather will be an issue when we play away. But I think that the good thing is that we will be playing away first. We should qualify.

Franklin Howard

There shouldn’t be sleepless nights about Ethiopia. I have no fears. They will play good football but we will score. It happened during the Nations Cup in South Africa. It will happen again. This draw calls for champagne-popping. They will play beautiful football but we will win even in Addis Ababa before  coming to Nigeria. But we must respect them. We are going away first but that’s where the game will end for them.