Ethiopia win 2-1 to go through to final round of World Cup qualifiers

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The Ethiopian national football team is e through to the final round of 2014 World Cup qualifying after a 2-1 win over the South African side at the Addis Ababa stadium on Sunday.
With one game left against Central African Republic (CAR), the 2-1 win takes the Group A leaders Ethiopia to 13 points, with South Africa second on eight points. The Sunday result makes the remaining match against CAR a formality.
Bernard Meloka Parker found the net in the 33rdminute to put South Africa in a 1-0 lead. Getahun Kebede equalised in the in the 42 ndminute. The score remained 1-1 at the interval. In the second half, at the 68th minute, an own goal from Parker helped Ethiopia secure a 2-1 win

The South African side created clear scoring opportunity a minute after they were put in a 1-0 lead. South Africa had shown a superior display of a well co-ordinated football until Ethiopia scored the equalizer. Though minor changes were seen even in the second half South Africa had shown a better football. Their midfield was fully dominant.
The Ethiopian team created two scoring opportunities in the injury time but Saladin Seid and Getahun Kebede missed from the goal mouth. The Ethiopian head coach Sewnet Bishaw said that the first chapter is closed. “We are now in the play-offs stage. The match against CAR will help us strengthen our position,” Sewnet Bishaw said.
Coach Sewnet Bishaw added that this is a historic moment for our country’s football. “In the World Cup qualifiers, Ethiopia has never reached this stage in the past. Players in this Ethiopian national team first qualified for the African Cup final for the first time in 31 years. That is historic. Now the Ethiopian side reached the final rounds of the qualifying stage,” he said.
The South African coach Gordon Igesund expressed his deep disappointment about the result. “Football has this kind of consequences. We played well but we lost,” he said.
The Addis Ababa stadium was full to capacity. Most Addis Ababa people went to the stadium before 6:00 am. But it was not possible to get tickets for most of the people who were in the long queue. The atmosphere at the Addis Ababa stadium was quite good.