Ethiopia Walia Ibex to play Zambia’s Chipolopolo in an International friendly in Addis

Ethiopia Walia Ibex will play an International friendly against 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Champions Zambia.

The game will be played on the weekend between June 8 and June 11 in Addis Ababa and will be used as preparations for the upcoming Afcon qualifiers.

The last time Ethiopia and Zambia met was in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by South Africa.

Defending champions Zambia Chipolopolo title defence started with a stutter after they wasted a 1-0 lead and missed a penalty against Ethiopia, who had their keeper Jemal Tassew sent off after just 37 minutes as they celebrated their first match in the tournament for 50 years.

Collins Mbesuma scored the opener for the 2012 winners after he raced onto a through ball, beating the defence and fired his half-volley into the bottom corner, but it was all-square when Ethiopia’s captain Adane Girma found the net at the near post.

Ethiopia Walia Ibex coach Yohannes Sahle called up a provisional squad of 44 locally based players to embark on preparations.