Eritrea vs Rwanda

Eritrea was one of the few home sides during the CAF qualifying competition for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil that managed to avoid defeat as they secured a morale-boosting 1-1 draw against Rwanda.

This match between Eritrea and Rwanda brought together two of the CAF member sides, with only one of them able to progress to the group stages of World Cup qualifying.

Surprisingly for many pundits, it was Eritrea that took the lead in the 35th minute, and Rwanda found itself on the back foot. The crowd that was on hand was driven into a frenzy ten minutes before the halftime whistle as Eritrea (Tekle) scored the goal to take the 1-0 lead into the break.

Rwanda regrouped at half-time, however, and soon after the restart the Rwandan team found an equaliser (Uzamukunda), which would prove to be the final goal of the game (1:1). The second leg between both teams will be played in Kigali on the 15 November 2011.

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Shigei Gebremedhin

Shigei Gebremedhin is an American-born power woman of Eritrean descent attracted to adrenaline-pumping and physically challenging sports.

Whether it’s running the marathon, jumping out of an aircraft to skydive or bungee-jumping off high bridges and cruising down ski slopes, Shigei faces challenges head on.

If she is not out to get her adrenaline up, she works as a business consultant in New York and holds an MBA and BA from Michigan State University. She is a beautiful, intelligent and brave woman inspired by the drive to combine extreme sports with a good cause.

Her latest venture is to climb the Kilimanjaro to help raise funds for Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), which is an international development organization that is committed to help the poorest regions of the world to address issues such as HIV, disability, poverty, education, health and well-being. She is in the final stages of her quest to reach the peak of the African mountain. Her journey will start on October 2nd and ends Ocotber 12th.

Mt. Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania, Africa. The mountain has three volcaninc cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira and is a dormant volcano. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the temperature at the peak is about -10 C.

”The first one is to remember to continue to do something that matters. Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro is a challenge that I am doing for charity. This fundraising experience will allow me to think of someone outside of myself and my needs,” she says.

Just recently she has started her own blog “Forward Motion” on her upcoming adventure, so we can follow her journey to conquer the 5895-metre-high mountain. Shigei believes that sharing her experience with us should remind us that we are all one and that we must help one another, and to continue strengthening our own spine.

If you want to support the good cause of Shigei Gebremedhin please visit her fundraising page “Shigei Gebremedhin“.

Go Eritrea

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For the second consecutive year, Eritrean athlete Zersenay Tadese wins the Lisbon Half Marathon in Portugal.

The race has been awarded the IAAF Gold Label Road Race status and is one of Europe’s major marathon competitions.

Zersenay Tadese, 29, finished the 21 mile race in 58.30 minutes, seven seconds behind his own world record set during the Lisbon Marathon in 2010 (58.23).

John Mwangangi and Silas Sang from Kenya finished second and third respectively in 60:29 and 60:37.

Tadese made a good race and was happy about the result despite high winds slowing him down and finishing below his own world record in 2010.

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Spain has one of the strongest traditions in organizing Athletics events and Seville itself played host to the IAAF’s most important competition, the World Championships in Athletics back in 1999. Most recently, it was Barcelona which witnessed an amazing success with the European Championships and it won’t be long until Athletics returns to the Catalan Capital as next year’s World Junior Championships will also be held in Barcelona.

Back to Punta Umbria where 69 Member Federations have already indicated that they will be sending teams. If the figures are maintained by the end of the Final Entry deadline (7 March 2011), Punta Umbria would be the most attended edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in seven years!

Athletes will compete on Sunday 20 March over four races (Men’s Senior & Junior; Women’s Senior & Junior) on a spectacular circuit course inside a beautiful pine forest with the start-finish line located on the athletics track of Punta Umbría.

The course has two natural ascents and descents with an extra artificial two metres obstacle. Furthermore there will be another three smaller obstacles (40 centimetres) every eight metres, adding to the challenge the runners will face. In total runners will tackle nine obstacles per lap.

Many international athletes have tested and hailed this course. Eritrean Teklemarian Medhin, the reigning silver medallist, has described it as very fast with a few very difficult zones, which will ensure that the victory won’t be decided until the final laps.

The initial part of each lap is fast and flat, with the artificial obstacles. And the approach area to the finish line becomes harder with the climbs and descents. A perfect place for a change of pace!

In addition to the main programme, a “Celebrities” race will be hosted on Saturday 19 March with special focus on social responsibility and charity. The 4Km race will be run on the same circuit.

IAAF

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The field includes world-class Kenyan athete Wilson Kipsang, who run for victory in 2:04:57 in last fall’s Frankfurt Marathon .

Some of the other top men include Merga Deriba of Ethiopia, El Hachimi Mohamed of Marokko, Musinschi Laroslav of Moldavia and Kangogo Moses of Kenya.

The first Mainichi Marathon was held in 1946 and was organized by the Mainichi Newspapers and the Japan Association of Athletics Federation.

Since then the race has been held annually and has constantly served as a qualifying event for major championships such as the Olympic Games, World Championships in Athletics, the World University Games, and Asian Games.

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TOKYO — Ethiopian long distance legend Haile Gebrselassie will lead a strong field at the Tokyo marathon next month as he makes his first major appearance since his cancelled retirement.

The 37-year-old world, who announced his retirement in November last year only to reverse the decision days later, set the world record for the marathon in Berlin in 2008 with a time of two hours, three minutes 59 seconds.

Organisers said his main rivals will include Felix Limo of Kenya, who set his personal best of 2:06:14 winning the 2004 Rotterdam marathon, and Yemane Tsegay of Ethiopia, whose best is 2:06:30 when he finished fourth in the 2009 Paris marathon.

Gebrselassie said a knee injury and his failure to finish the New York marathon earlier in the month were the reasons for his unexpected — and short-lived — retirement from athletics.

The Tokyo marathon on February 27 will be his first major appearance since then.

Kenya’s Paul Biwott and Salim Kipsang are also expected to pose a threat with their best times of 2:07:02 and 2:07:29, while Ethiopia’s Hailu Mekonnen has a best time of 2:07:37.

Other major athletes will be Tadesse Abraham of Eritrea and last year’s Hokkaido marathon winner Cyrus Gichobi Njui of Kenya, while hosts Japan will send Masakazu Fujiwara, Arata Fujiwara and Satoshi Irifune.

The women’s race will include Nuta Olaru of Romania, Russia’s Tatiana Petrova and 2008 Los Angeles marathon winner Tatiana Aryasova, Asmae Leghzaoui of Morocco and Olena Burkovska of Ukraine with local hopes resting on Yoko Shibui.

AFP

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This exclusive interview with Almeria forward Henok Goitom was conducted before the semifinal in the Copa del Rey between Almeria and FC Barcelona by the totalBarça FC Barcelona Fan Organization.

Goitom shared his thoughts about Almeria, Barcelona and Twitter.

After the game 0-8 loss against FC Barcelona in November you got a new coach in José Luis Oltra, what has changed in the team since then?

With a new coach everyone gets fired up. We have a better understanding what a team needs to do to be able to fight for a new contract in la liga.

What do you think about Oltra so far?

Oltra tries to ensure that the defense becomes stable, as the attack is already good. We have several players who can score goals and make assists.

After the Almeria – Barça game Cristiano Ronaldo said that it would be interesting to see if Barça could score eight goals against Real Madrid. Did you want Barça to score eight against Madrid, and did you expect the game to be so one-sided as it was?

I believe that the 5-0 in the way Barcelona played hurt more for Real Madrid than 8-0 did for us. Before the game everyone expected an exciting match and if Ronaldo had got a penalty it would have been another game. But after that it was only Barça and the way they played out Real Madrid was incredible.

During the season Almeria have had it harder in the league but have been great in the Spanish Cup. Why do you think it’s like that? Is there a big difference between the Cup and the League?

The latest games in the league have been going well. A draw against Madrid and a win now against Osasuna so we are starting to get [used to] Oltra’s philosophy. Before it has gone well in the cup because we have not had the same pressure as in the league.

Barcelona have had a fantastic season so far as it comes to the league, although they have had it harder in the cup with two draws against Athletic Bilbao and recently a 3-1 loss against Real Betis. Do you believe you have a better chance to win against them in the cup than in the league?

Barcelona is always Barcelona. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the cup or in the league. It will be as hard.

As a kid you were a fan of AC Milan. Why Milan?

I’m still a Milan supporter. It started when I saw Van Basten, Gullit and the guys play and since then I have been stuck.

You once said that you liked Barcelona more than Madrid, is that still the case?

I like Barcelona more than Madrid because they have a philosophy they follow all the way! They have their way of playing and believe in it even if it would go bad. That’s how much they believe in it. And that they make players from their own ranks to become stars year in and year out is incredible.

You have not played in either Allsvenskan (Sweden’s highest division) or Superettan (Sweden’s second highest division). Instead, you went directly from Vassalund/Essinge to the Serie A club Udinese at the age of 19. How did that happen?

My coach Roger Palmgren got me a try-out for the U-19 national team and I took a place in the starting eleven right away, Udinese saw me in one game. Then it was done.

Even if you play in one of the world’s best football leagues, you seem to be a very humble person that cares about the people close to you. How do you keep your feet on the ground?

I was raised with the motto, don’t think you are better than anyone because you have better conditions and treat everyone with respect.

What do you think about the recent acquisitions of clubs like Malaga and Racing Santander? What impact will it make to the overall league and the respective clubs?

There needs to be a little roof, or the wages can run away. I got to know through a friend that Platini has put up a proposal which says that the clubs’ spending must be covered by revenue. It is a good rule, I think.

Is it hard to be a professional football player and a Twitter addict at the same time?

Sure. I write a lot on Twitter but it doesn’t affect my social life, so I don’t know if you could call me a twitterholic exactly. But Twitter and football is no problem, it goes hand in hand without a problem.

What is your best tweet of all time?

The best tweet must have been during the El Clasico game, when the result was 4-0. I wrote: “I know how you feel Real Madrid, you just want the game to be over”.

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Apparently, several teams are lined up to battle for Kelati’s signature, if the player should be free to go, including his former Spanish club Valencia Basket. Two Turkish clubs, namely Efes Pilsen and Fenerbahce, have already approached Kelati’s manager in a move to secure a deal with the Eritrean player.

Kelati is said to like the option to play for his former Spanish club and would be even prepared to take salary cuts to be able to return to Spain. Valencia’s best basketball team made very good experience with the guard and values him as hard working and calm professional capable of scoring for his team.

His current club BC Khimki is in financial trouble and failed to secure a place in the Euroleague’s Top 16 teams. Only last week the official website of BC Khimki announced the departure of Nigerian center player Benjamin Eze to Olimpia Milano after his disappointment with the clubs performance.

No wonder Valencia is watching the situation closely to snatch its former basketball star with roots in Eritrea.

In his basketball career Kelati played for Dexia Mons-Hainaut (Belgium), Turow Zgorzelec (Poland), Unicaja Malaga (Spain), Olympiacos Piareus (Greece), Los Angeles Lakers (USA), Power Electronics Valencia (Spain), BC Khimki (Russia).

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Zersenay Tadese

By Amanuel Biedemariam

Ever since he burst upon the scene in 2002, Zersenay Tadese has proven that he is the embodiment and example of what Eritrea is all about; resilient, consistent and victorious. Like my fellow Eritreans around the world, I have been wowed by what he has been able to achieve for himself and, by extension, for the people of Eritrea in general.

In a sport that requires tremendous amount of team support and organizational structure for any success, Zersenay has single handedly placed himself in a position of international acclaim and placed Eritrea in a map of a sport that has traditionally been dominated by a handful of nations.

My aim therefore, is to thank Zersenay Tadese for all the joyous moments that he brought into the faces of all Eritreans every time we saw him. We are happy to see him compete, meeting and enjoying Eritrean communities in the Diaspora and happy when he went back to Eritrea and contributed to the lives of Eritreans in many ways. We were also happy when he was received by the biggest victory-welcome accorded him by the people of Eritrea from the President down to the youngest that revere this deserving soul. Eritrea needed Zersenay to be the best possible human being that he could be and he delivered with his heart, dignity and humble nature. He brought a sense of decency and became a true model for Eritreans and the world for those who chose to notice. He is my hero and the hero of millions of Eritreans. I am thankful that he set the bar high for all to follow, and grateful for the example he set for future generations of Eritrean athletes.

Clearly his professional accomplishments speak volumes of the type of hard working and dedicated individual that he is. He is the current record holder of world’s half Marathon. He won a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters in 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greek making him the first-ever Eritrean Olympic medalist. He has won over twenty medals ranging from bronze to gold all over the world. He is the epitome of success with a demeanor that is a true reflection of what Eritreans are; courteous and gracious to a fault. And he did it graced by an Eritrean flag that was tailor fitted for him. However; what stands out is that outfit exudes a national soul that is confident and determined to show the world what Eritrea is all about.

I want to thank Zersenay for being the true anchor of Eritrean sports based on international standards. I want to thank him for setting THE example of what it means to achieve success and yet remain grounded while firmly connecting with his country at all levels. I want to thank him for his strength and for remaining steady just like Eritrea has over the last ten years when many were ganging up to frustrate her into submission. He never gave up even when teams ganged up on him. On the contrary, he saw what he needed and recruited others into becoming a part of his team. He helped to expand the size and quality of Eritrean athletes in a world stage.

While much could be said about all the achievements of this giant; all the accolades would have meant nothing if Zersenay was selfish and irresponsible. However, Zersenay understood his historic responsibilities and his place in the history books of Eritrea and etched it by embracing his people and reveling on their support. Zersenay Tadese, I thank you for making Eritrea proud. I thank you for being the anchor and pillar of a nation. I thank you for the foundation and legacy you have established. Thank you Warsay – a pride of Yekealo!

Awetnayu@hotmail.com

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Monte-Carlo – The IAAF is giving you the unique chance to help select the 2010 World Athlete of the Year.

With the vote now open, it takes just a few clicks to pick your THREE finalists for the Athlete of the Year (Man and Woman) from the candidates list selected by a panel of IAAF Experts.

With the help of your votes, which will be added to a poll of IAAF Athletics Family members, a shortlist of 3 finalists will be presented to a Special Jury of the International Athletic Foundation, who will then make a final selection of the World Athlete of the Year and announce the winners, live on stage, at the 2010 IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco on 21 November.

Vote here: World Athletics Gala

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New York Marathon

Meb Keflezighi’s chances of finishing first during this year ‘s New York Marathon have increased for the Eritrean-American runner.

Four-time Boston Marathon winner Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot and three-time London Marathon champion Martin Lel will not run in next month’s New York Marathon due to injuries, reports AFP. Both Kenyans were expected to be among title contenders in the November 7 race.

Lel, who won the New York crown in 2003 and 2007, will miss the race because of a right leg injury while Cheruiyot, last year’s New York runner-up to Eritrean-born American Meb Keflezighi, was sidelined by a groin injury. Cheruiyot, 32, captured his most recent Boston crown in 2008 and Lel, 31, was fifth at the 2008 Beijing Olympic marathon.

Marathon world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, making his New York debut, and Keflezighi top the remaining field, which also includes two-time New York winner Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil and Kenyan Abel Kirui.

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