Eritrea’s national team head coach Efrem Haile Alemseghed has said he cannot wait to see the national team play many more international matches.

“We are happy that last year we played several matches in the World Cup qualifier and the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup. But building a strong team needs more competitive matches,” added Haile.

Eritrea’s national team also known as the Red Sea Boys showed tremendous improvement when they reached the final of the 2019 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup losing to hosts Uganda Cranes in Kampala last December.

“We need to build from where we stopped last year where we performed well in the regional Cecafa tournament. Players become better with more top quality games,” reasoned the coach.

He also made it clear that the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a big negative effect on football in the country because activities have been suspended.

“I would be happy if we had some Cecafa tournaments later in the year so that our players can be able to get more international match practice,” said Haile.

He maintained that the national team’s second-place finish at the 2019 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup is a testament to how football has grown in the country. He said Eritrea had taken long without participating in the regional tournament, but finishing second gave a clear picture of steady improvement.

Cecafa under the new leadership of Wallace Karia, have planned to have nine tournaments this year. But the region could now have only the two CAF Championship qualifiers for the U-17 and U-20, and perhaps a women’s tournament.