UEFA Friendship Cup: Valuable lessons learned for Ethiopia U-18 women

Ethiopia U-18 women’s national team head coach Chalew Lemecha has relished the experience his players gained after finishing fourth in the UEFA Friendship Cup in Türkiye. The national team competed in such a tournament for the first time and won twice.

 

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The U-18 selection comfortably beat Uruguay 3-0 with the help of Hidat Kasu’s hat-trick and edged Costa Rica 1-0. They later lost 1-0 to Norway and 3-1 to hosts Türkiye in the later stages of the tournament. Lemecha told local reporters that the team learned a lot from the encounters:

“The tournament has been a significant learning experience for us. The goal of the tournament is to develop women players who can play for the senior side in the long run. I hope we fulfilled our goal,” said Lemecha.

After two wins in the opening fixtures, the team faced Norway. The head coach stated that facing the Scandinavians was a challenge. “Our third game was against Norway, and they were a strong side. They are physically strong. We lost 1-0.”

Lemecha added that Ethiopia’s participation was positive given the experience gained. “Apart from the on-field experience, there was also coaching experience sharing. It was a success. We saw different coaching styles and gained a lot from these kinds of interactions.”

Ethiopia and Morocco represented Africa in the tournament, where Paraguay won the title by beating Norway. The Ethiopian U-18 women’s national team used to have very few friendly matches before. The tournament is expected to open doors for the national team in future events.