By John Egbokhan
Despite being pitted to play African champions, the Super Eagles in the final play-offs for the World Cup, Ethiopia are so sure of qualifying for the Brazil showpiece that they are already thinking of their would-be opponents in the tournament.

One of their star players, Menyahil Teshome, told Addis Guday, an Amharic magazine, that Eagles cannot stand on their way of playing for the first time at the World Cup, where they hope to play against Spain and Argentina.

Ethopia National team

“Nigeria are a good side. We played them at the Nations Cup in Africa and they defeated us. But we fought on that day. We know them and are confident that we are going to defeat them to qualify for our first World Cup.

“We are counting on our fans to help us achieve this objective. In fact, we are already seeing beyond Nigeria. It is the World Cup we are preparing for, where we hope to play against Spain and Argentina on the field. We believe that our dream will be realised”, said  Teshome, who plays for Dedebit, in the Ethiopian league.

Ironically, Teshome was the player caught in the web of ineligibility clause, which made FIFA to deduct three points from them during a previous match against Botswana.

But he returned to score  the winner in their 2-1 victory over the CentralAfricaRepublic on September 7 in Brazzaville. Even with the points deduction, they still finished with 13 points to finish top of Group A, comprising favourites South Africa, Botswana and CentralAfricaRepublic.

They play Nigeria on October 13 in Addis Ababa.