Eritrea national football team
![]() | |||
Nickname(s) | Red Sea Boys [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 | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 204 ![]() | ||
Highest | 121[2] (August 2007) | ||
Lowest | 204 (April 2015-July 2015, December 2015) | ||
First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Khartoum; June 26, 1992) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Nairobi, Kenya; 5 December 2009) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Asmara, Eritrea; August 18, 1993) |
The Eritrea national football team 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[by whom?] 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 are now seeking asylum there, officials say.[32]
Competitive record
World Cup record
- 1930 to 1998 — Did not enter
- 2002 to 2006 — Did not qualify
- 2010 — Did not enter
- 2014 to 2018 — Did not qualify
Africa Cup of Nations record
- 1957 to 1998 — Did not enter
- 2000 to 2008 — Did not qualify
- 2010 — Withdrew
- 2012 to 2013 — Did not enter
- 2015 — Withdrew
Current squad
The following players were called up for the team in September 2015.
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK | Isaias Hailegerghis | 0 | 0 | ![]() | ||
GK | Menasie Solomon | 0 | 0 | ![]() | ||
GK | Sium Bokretsen | 0 | 0 | ![]() | ||
5 | DF | Senai Birhane | 2 | 0 | ![]() | |
16 | DF | Filmon Kibrom | 0 | 0 | ||
8 | MF | Samyomi Alexander | 2 | 0 | ||
13 | MF | Amir Hassan Idris | 0 | 0 | ![]() | |
7 | MF | Yonas Solomon | 2 | 0 | ||
9 | MF | Nathan Berhe | 0 | 0 | ||
18 | MF | La'el Daniel | 12 September 1997 | 0 | 0 | |
31 | MF | Samuel "Eriboy" Simon | 17 May 1998 | 0 | 0 | |
10 | FW | Henok Goitom | 22 September 1984 | 2 | 1 | ![]() |
19 | FW | Mussie Negassi | 0 | 0 | ![]() | |
11 | FW | Sirak Beyene | 20 October 1996 | 5 | 0 | ![]() |
15 | FW | Semir Idris | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
List of coaches
Yilmaz Yuceturk (2000)
Dorian Marin (2006–2007)
René Feller (2007-2008)
Negash Teklit (2009–2013)
Alemseged Efrem (2013-present)[33]
References
- ^ a b Pilipili, Oscar (12 December 2009). "Zimbabwe held 0–0 by Eritrea". The Standard. Nairobi. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=eri/ranking/gender=m/index.html
- ^ a b c d e Courtney, Barrie (31 January 2008). "Eritrea International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ a b "Eritrea on FIFA.com". FIFA.com. FIFA. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ "Eritrea Matches From 01.01.1872 To 30.11.2010". FIFA. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ "Eritrean National Football Federation (ENFF)". Cafonline.com. CAF. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel (11 December 2009). "East and Central African Championship (CECAFA)". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ a b "First stage: Nigeria - Eritrea 4:0 (2:0)". 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Preliminaries. FIFA. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ "First stage: Eritrea - Nigeria 0:0". 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Preliminaries. FIFA. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ a b "Play-off: Sudan - Eritrea 3:0 (0:0)". 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Preliminaries. FIFA. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ a b "Play-off: Eritrea - Sudan 0:0". 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Preliminaries. FIFA. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ a b c Wyatt, Ben (15 December 2009). "Kenyan police search for missing footballers". London: CNN. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ a b c Odula, Tom (15 December 2009). "12 Eritrea soccer players defect during tournament in Kenya; UN will hear case". Canadian Press. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Pflanz, Mike (15 December 2009). "Eritrean football team missing after match in Kenya". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Oryada, Andrew Jackson (5 December 2012). "Eritrean players seek asylum in Uganda". BBC. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
- ^ Nakiyimba, Gloria (6 December 2012). "Eritrea's football team seek asylum in Uganda, citing persecution". RFI English. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
- ^ Oryada, Andrew Jackson (4 December 2012). "Eritrea players missing in Uganda after regional championship". BBC. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
- ^ a b "Eritrea players go missing in Kenya". AFP. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ "Official: Players say death awaits them in Eritrea". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "Eritrean footballers join row of asylum seekers". afrol.com. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ "Angola considers asylum claims". BBC. 28 March 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ "Three Eritrean Players Seek Asylum in Sudan". Sudan Vision. 25 November. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ a b c Wandera, Gilbert (9 December 2009). "Tanzania hit Eritrea to make semi-final". The Standard. Nairobi. Retrieved 15 December 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "Eritrea withdraw from qualifiers". FIFA. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Toskin, Robin (4 December 2009). "Eritrean goalkeeper's effort not good enough". The Standard. Nairobi. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ "Eritrea crush Somalia as Rwanda pip Zims". The Standard. Nairobi. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Xinhua (16 December 2009). "Kenya Searches for 12 "Missing" Eritrean Players". CRI. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Ombati, Cyrus (18 December 2009). "12 Eritrean footballers granted asylum". The Standard. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
- ^ 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
- ^ Sportal Australia (26 August 2011). "Gold Coast Sign Refugee Pair". Australian FourFourTwo. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
- ^ "Eritrean players and coach missing in Kenya". BBC. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34534975
- ^ http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=ERI/about.html