The match will take place at the Olympic Stadium in Yaounde, immediately after the opening match between Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
Ethiopia is playing in the African Cup of Nations for the eleventh time, and the first since 2013.
The “Ghazlan Al-Walia” team, champion in 1962, hopes to start its participation in the tournament in a distinctive way against Cape Verde.
The Ethiopian national team suffers from the absence of professional midfielder in Egypt, Shimeles Bekele, due to injury, according to the “Kef” website.
Regarding Ethiopia’s participation in the African Championship, coach Wubito Abate said: “We prepared for this tournament in the best conditions. We will return to this wonderful African football show after a long absence. We respect our opponents, but we are confident in our talent. We will play our way in this competition. Our goal is not only to participate. But to show the world that Ethiopia has young, talented players who can make a surprise.”
“We are in a difficult group, including Cameroon. We are coming to the tournament with the aim of qualifying for the next stage, and going as far as we can. Almost 99 percent of our team is in the domestic league, but they are young and promising,” Abate added.
In turn, Cape Verde will play the third African Cup of Nations in its history.
Having made their first appearance in the quarter-finals in 2013, the Blue Sharks want to do better this time in Cameroon.
On the team’s fortunes, Cape Verdean assistant coach Humberto Bettencourt said: “We are in Cameroon to play good football, enjoy and do our best to go as far as possible in the competition. We respect all our opponents, and we will take our matches one by one to achieve our goals.”
Statistics and numbers
– This will be the first match between Ethiopia and Cape Verde in the African Cup of Nations.
Ethiopia was one of three teams that participated in the first African Cup of Nations in 1957 (along with Egypt and Sudan).
Ethiopia won the title in 1962, and this is only their second appearance in the last 20 editions of the tournament, and their first since 2013.
– Ethiopia won only one of its 17 matches in the African Cup of Nations that were held away from its land (draw 2, lost 14), with a 4-2 victory over Tunisia in the 1963 session.
– Ethiopian striker and historical scorer Gitaneh Kebede plays in the African Cup of Nations for the second time, knowing that in 2013 he did not take a shot on goal during 189 minutes of play.
– This is the third appearance of Cape Verde in the African Nations Cup.
Cape Verde tied five of the seven matches in the tournament so far, and achieved one victory against Angola in the group stage in 2013.
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