Fasil Tekalign: Player turned coach

Since joining the first team of St. George FC in 1995, he has played as a midfielder and a fullback until 2003. Well-known for his leadership qualities on and off the field, senior coaches believed he had a bright future in coaching. In 2004/05 season he joined Defense FC and again in 2006/07 served in Medin FC then after concluding his playing career early. At the end of his illustrious playing career, Coach Fasil Tekalign received a call from his former club St. George to manage the youth team. He was an assistant coach to several foreign coaches and has succeeded in achieving many titles in the Ethiopian Premier League as well as CAF tournaments. Current Ethiopian national team assistant coach Fasil was in Budapest, Hungary to take additional coaching lessons and Dawit Tolesa of The Reporter has sat down with Fasil to discuss the over-all activity of the session. Excerpts

The Reporter: You had a big reputation while you were playing in the EPL. However, you stopped playing football at an early age. What was the reason?

Fasil Tekalign: Well, I knew it was early and many people were telling me I was capable to play more football during that time. But sometimes you lose the passion to play football. Everything will come to an end, and you will have an opportunity to immediately shift your mind to stop playing football. I received a call from St. George to coach the youth team, while I was playing. So, I saw the moment to go back to St. George as another advantage and I convinced myself that returning to my home club is another dream which I have to enjoy. Hence, I decided to take over the youth team and face the new challenges as a coach.

Read more at: The Reporter