If there were only 3 Eritreans on the Team, then they are already Accounted for, whereas Cigar is claiming to be One of Them:
The Three Eritreans:
1. Kibrom T Medhin
2. Mulugeta Berhane (Salvatore?)
3. Tesfay "Cento"
Cigar claims NOT to be none of these Eritreans but Claims to have been 1 of 3...which is the Case, CIGAR?
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Ethiopi ... 309222641/
Ethiopian national team in Germany while preparing for the 10th African Cup, which was held in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa in 1976.
Standing from L to R: Coach Peter Schnittger, Ibrahim Jami, Bekri Adem, Ketsela Kebede, Kasahun Teka, Asfaw Bayu, Ahmed Buker, Dire, Engedawork Tariku "Sebeta", Tesfaye Seyoum "Wollo", Asrat Haile "Goradew", Kibrom T. Medhin and coach Shewangizaw Agonafir.
Bottom row from L to R: Alemayehu Haile Selassie "Figna", Mulugeta Berhane, Negussie Gebre, Solomon Shiferaw, Girma Shale, Mohammed Ali "Sheddad", Getachew Abebe "Dula" and Tesfaye "Cento"
Cigar wrote: ↑12 Jul 2019, 21:48LOL Zmeselo, Cigar is a nick I picked for this site to honor one of my favorite champion thoroughbred horse here in the USA.
I won almost 10 thousand dollars betting on him during his career.
Beside football, I am also an aficionado of thoroughbred horse racing.
Now to your question.
I only played a year and half in Asmara. Then I went to Addis to further my education (sellassie unrecognized Asmara University to systematically force us to go to Ethiopia.
So football was not in my plan.
But I got to Addis in the middle of August 1973 and Mengistu overthrew the midget sellassie on September 2 of 1974 and that baria mengistu declared all high school, other institutes and university be closed for two years for a communist teaching campaign called Zemecha.
So before I even start my study, I was assigned to Illubabor remote area called Uqa, when all of a sudden the ethio football federation asked the Zemecha campaign that the ethio football will decline if all the students who were playing for the league go to the remote areas they were assigned and submitted like 300 names to the Zemecha campaign to be excused from participating the campaign.
The campaign in turn said that is too big of number and asked the federation to submit only the names of the students who have national team players potentials.
So, obviously I was a very talented player and decided to join a team in a jiffy with ERA and in my first game in Addis, the then Ethio team coach...a German named Peter came to our locker room and asked me to report to their national team.
I was the youngest ethio national team player ever at age if 18.
So, the ethio football team submitted only 9 students names out of 400 or so students and 6 out of those 9 students were Eritreans of which 2 of them (my friends) went to join the struggle back home and get martyred (R.I.P.) and out of those nine only two were selected to the ethio national team.....me and Berhane aka salvatore ( former tele and then ethio airline goal keeper). And Salvatore after couple training some how left Ethiopia (against the rules of the zemecha) and went to Italy which made me to be the only student in their national team and the two employed Eritreans (Tesfai and Kubrom).
So in Addis my nick was not Cigar. They used to call me Kwas bekisu (ball in his pocket). It was hard for any one to take the ball from my feet, both my feet were equal, and I was a football free style talent.
So it was not my intention to play any football. I did it take advantage of their politics. And I only played for 2 years in Addis. And I used my fooball name to get an exit papers and visas from their Kebelies and football federation to leave Ethiopia to go study in Kiev, Ukraine.
I didn't even get to the ideal age where players shine (age 23 to 25). I mean I quit it at age 22. Played only a year and half in Asmara and 3 years in Addis.
And I hated training.
The talent was just an Eritrean DNA I believe and that is why I said Eritrea will be the first east African country to qualify to the African Cup of Nations.
Cigar wrote: ↑12 Jul 2019, 18:28Yes after the 'Ethiopian national team.....actually Eritrean national team' won the 3rd African cup of Nations beating Egypt in the finals, the Egyptian news papers printed in their news papers that they got beat by Eritrea not by Ethiopia for the fact that 9 very talented players out of the 'ethio' national team roster were Eritreans.
After the ethio football federation found out such news, to its own determent start to decrease the number of Eritrean players for its national team and sadly went to the gutters.
I mean, had Ethiopia dropped the empty ego and chose to use a national team which was composed by Eritreans only, I believe Ethiopia could have won the next 2, 3 or 4 Aftican Cup of Nations, for a fact that the Eritreans who came after the 3rd cup of nations champions were much better.
And that was the case when I played in the Ethio national team in the tenth African Cup of Nations.
Rather than picking other talented Eritreans the ethio football federation only picked 3 Eritreans including me, just to not give Eritreans credit like in the 3rd Aftican cup, which hampered ethiopia the ability to win the cup.
The 3 Eritrean players in that roster were:
1. Me (University student)
2. Tesfai cento (army lieutenant-Mechal team)
3. Kubrom (Omedla police team).
And that I call is shooting your own feet or systematic racism.
So you the nut cases ethiopians of this site, need to have respect to Cigar (kwas Bekisu) very talented midfield player. I bet some of you who hate me were freaking clapping and cheering for me or could be some of the ethiopians who were paying for my cappuccinos with out of my knowledge. I mean, I usually were being told that my tap is paid by a fan when I try to pay my bill.
Yes, my biggest sadness is that due to the timing and circumstances of that era, that I could not wear my Eritrean football Jersey.
Gosh, would I have shined Eritrea in the world stage.
What it is, is what it is.
I have the full confidence that Eritrea will be the first east African country which actually will qualify to participate in the African Cup of Nations and not by hosting it as some we know.
