Back in March 2018, the Yemeni football faithful were in total jubilation following the senior national team achieved qualification to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup which is due in United Arab Emirates.
The war torn nation achieved the feat under the guidance of Ethiopian coach Abraham Mebratu after beating Naples 2-1 in the last qualifying game played out in Doha, Qatar.
Coach Abraham, who doubles as a CAF coaching instructor, was in Yemen prior to the conflict and was the Yemen Football Association technical director but assumed the coaching role in 2016. Coach Abraham explained to Soccer Ethiopia why he opted to stay in Yemen during the troubling times leaving his life in absolute danger. “First and foremost the main reason why I stayed in Yemen during the civil war is because of the passion I have for football. People of Yemen love the game and the government supports it. Likewise the thought of leaving the Yemeni kids, who were under the Yemen FA grassroots project, haunted me the most. The support and an act of commending I got from FIFA coupled with the success of the Olympic side induced me to stay in Yemen and continue my work,” said instructor Abraham.
The AFC Asian Cup will be contested among 24 nations for the first time in the tournament’s history. The draw for the biggest Asian footballing event will be held at Dubai on May 4 as instructor Abraham hopes to land an easy opponent. “I have no idea who we will be pitted against but I expect one of the World Cup bound national sides to get drawn against us. Nonetheless, I am fully aware that there is no easy ride on the group stages of a major tournament.”
The former Gumruk and Wonji Sugar head trainer also stated pretournament preps of Yemen will be dealt with a lot of problems. “Close to 19 million people in Yemen is in need of emergency food assistance. The public servants have not been paid for the last 11 months and the Yemen FA is not financially strong. We have to overcome a lot of challenges, if we need to be competent participants in the Asian Cup. So my work will commence at the group draw ceremony. The Yemen FA head and I will be lobbying to other financially strong FAs’ to give us assistance and organize for friendly encounters.”
Instructor Abraham has been giving CAF A, B and C coaching license courses in his native country. He told Soccer Ethiopia that he is always interested to take on the Waliyas coaching job. “I have been helping my country with my area of expertise in the last couple of years. I have a special intimacy with my country. It is my eventual plan to coach the national team. Every player and coach dreams to work in the national side. That is the ultimate dream. I also dream to work in the national team just like many other trainers.”
