the fans are ready, let's hope the players are!

Judging by the number of Ethiopian soccer shirts walking around town and the difficulty we had getting to church this morning, I think it is safe to say the locals are pretty excited about the match happening this afternoon.


For those of you not in the know, Ethiopia qualified top of their group and now face Nigeria in the first leg of a home and away world cup play off this afternoon. They are hoping to become the first East African team to make the world cup finals. They play a style of football very similar to Barcelona, with lots of short passing and lots of possession.

Last weekend Tommy joined some of the teachers at Bingham to play in an invitational 7 a-side soccer tournament at a local International School. One of the teams they played against was the Under-17 team from St George, currently 5th in Ethiopia's top league, the Ethio Premier. The Bingham adults were comprehensively beaten (7-0!) and spent most of the time chasing the ball around like headless chickens. We are hoping the national team will be able to do the same to Nigeria!