Ethiopia suffer defeat in opening AFCON 2023 qualifier

Ethiopia suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Malawi in their opening campaign of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 qualifiers on Sunday.

Orlando Pirates striker Gabadinho Mhango netted two penalties for the home side, while Abubeker Nasir pulled one back for  the Walia Ibex.

Mhango gave the home side the lead after 10 minutes at the Bingu National Stadium. After 34 minutes Mhango made no mistake from the spot again.

The Ethiopian team later settled down and started dominating play, but failed to break through to get the goals in the first half.

After 68 minutes Nasir pulled one back for the Ethiopian team from another penalty after a foul in the box.

Wubetu Abate, Ethiopia’s head coach said he was disappointed with the way they conceded the two goals. “Our defenders gifted two penalties and we should do better next time,” said Abate.

The coach made it clear that they must work hard and improve before they host Egypt on June 9^th in their second match. Egypt defeated Guinea 1-0 in the second Group D match played last night.

Tomorrow Rwanda will return to action with a Group L match against Senegal. The Amavubi Stars opened their campaign with a 1-1 away draw against Mozambique few days ago.