Fikru Tefera travels to South Africa for his third spell

By Michael Samson

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The Ethiopian National shadow team skipper, Fikru Tefera, who participated in the CECAFA Championships, is back in South Africa for his third spell, this time for a short-term contract with the Free State Stars.

The 26 year old giant striker, who started his career with Adama Town, moved to St. George to win two Premier Leagues and a Super Cup title with the team before he became the first Ethiopian football professional player, signing a contract with the South African side, Orlando Pirates. Orlando paid 50, 000 dollars to St. George to sign him up and this was for two seasons.

After a year with the Pirates, he joined rivals Super Sport United, Then there was his surprise move to Europe to join Melada Borislov of the Czech Republic. After nine matches and three goals to his name, the Czech side failed to keep Fikru in their ranks because of money shortages, thus Fikru was back in South Africa for a second spell with Super Sport United.

In 2010, Fikru helped Super Sport to third place in the league table, but with his agent’s insistence, Fikru once again moved to Europe, this time for the Finland side, Kapu Finland. “It was for a short spell and I stayed in Finland, but I learned a lot about being a professional,” Fikru the self-made striker told reporters. Thanks to his busy agent, the striker’s next destiny turned out to be to play football in Vietnam which is hardly known in football world. According to Fikru, the Far East nation is quite different from what we know and that it is a fast rising soccer nation where talents from different nations, including Brazil, are flocking to.

Fikru returned home to take part in the CECAFA tournament, then onward to his latest contract with the Free State Stars. Fikru, who already has a South African resident permit, joined his new side so that he could have a permanent address to receive a formal call from EFF to join the Walias at the African Nation’s Cup final. Sure to be called upon for the Cup final and sure to land a new contract with a European club, the striker who appeared for Ethiopia 55 times and scored 26 goals, has gone to South Africa to get ready to make his dream come true.

Source: capitalethiopia.com