Ethiopia Football: Legendary Player & Coach Mengistu Worku returns home
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Mengistu Worku, Ethiopia’s greatest footballer of all time and the last head coach who took the Ethiopian national football team to the African Nations Cup in Libya in 1982, has returned here after two years of medical treatment in Bangkok, wrote Michael Samson of the weekly English newspaper, The Capital.
Mengistu, 70, is currently resting at Bete-Zata Hospital, close to Addis Ababa stadium where the living legend made a name for himself as the nation’s best ever footballer of all time.
The 3rd African Cup winner has been in Bangkok for two years undergoing medical treatment but his condition has worsened, wrote the paper. Mengistu is said to have returned home along with a medical doctor and special medical equipments for follow-up treatment.
Saint George FC’s patron, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi has covered all the medical expenses for the legendary player.
Mengistu spent his entire club playing career for Saint George FC, where he started at the age of 16. He played 98 times for the Ethiopian national team and scored a record 61 goals. He played a pivotal role in helping Ethiopia win its only African Nations Cup when the third edition was held here in 1962. As a player, Mengistu has taken part in 6 African Nations Cup tournament (1959-1970) and scored 10 goals.
After he retired from playing, Mengistu took up coaching where he served as head of St. George, Ethiopian Airlines and EEPCO among others and he is the last Ethiopian coach to take a team to the African Nations Cup when it was held in Libya in 1982.
Mengistu was a complete player. He can dribble and pass precise balls. His left foot was as lethal as his right, and he had such an incredible jumping and heading ability for a player who was not that tall.
A fearless warrior who sacrificed his body and was often victim of vicious tackles from defenders who cannot control him.
EthioSports.com would like to take this moment to ask the thousands of our website’s daily visitors to keep this giant of a man and an Ethiopian hero in their prayers.
Gashe Mengistu, May the Good Lord be with you and your family in this trying times.
