Eritrea Participated in African Unity Soccer Tournament

By Ogbazgy A. Asmerom

In Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, at The Corpus Christi Sports Complex, during the weekend of July 12-13, 2008, Eritrea participated in a soccer match against some African nations, which can be considered as soccer powerhouses.

During the African Unity Soccer Tournament, which was done for the first time in the history of the city, 16 nations’ teams took part in the 2-day tournament.

Eritrea played against Cameroon, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. Cameron and Ghana beat Eritrea, 5:1 and 7:1 respectively, but Eritrea beat Zimbabwe 4:3.

Out of the 16 nations' teams, eight made it to the semi final. Out of the eight, four made it to the final. Mali and Senegal played for the final UFCW cup. Senegal beat Mali 2:1, and won the trophy.

Picture by Jennifer Dudley

The whole event was sponsored by United Food and Commercial Workers [UFCW], which paid for the expenses of the whole tournament, including T-Shirts for all of the teams, field and concession costs. UFCW, local 1099, is a labor Union in the area. The Union has shown some interests to see that the African needs are met in the city and area. It is also involved in the Democratic and election process of the American system. As a union, UFCW has decided to campaign for the Illinois Senator, Barack Obama, to be the next president of the USA. In some local elections, the union is also campaigning for Steve Driehaus, who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal. Steve Direhaus speaks one of the languages of Senegal, and he is interested in seeing the needs of Africans, whether it is at the local, state or federal levels of government to be addressed and met. He wants to see the Africans in the area united and create a stronger coalition.

For the Eritreans in the community, this has been a time of national pride and a moment to be remembered for the recognition Eritrea received. The Eritrean flag was flying in the Sports Complex. The players had T-Shirts with “Eritrea” written on each one of them.

The organizers of the Eritrean soccer team believe that Eritrea will continue to be represented in future tournaments. Michael Beyene was the General Manager of the team. Habtom Haile and Johnny Zegay served as co-captains. Yonas Ogbazgy was the coach of the Team.

Picture by Jennifer Dudley

The writer of the story believes that a real Eritrean soccer team needs to be developed and it must be structured to compete against the well-known African teams, such as Cameroon, Ghana, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal. There were other nations' teams that participated in the tournament. Those were Algeria, Congo DR, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, the Sudan and Togo. Niger was invited, but did not show up to play.

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