The Strange Death of Eritrea's National Football Team
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- čas přidán 25. 04. 2024
- Despite being the lowest-ranked team heading into the 2019 CECAFA Cup, Eritrea beat East African rivals like Burundi, Djibouti, and Kenya en route to the final, which constituted their best ever performance in Africa's oldest football tournament.
It was a historic achievement - but Eritrea's men's team haven't played a competitive fixture since that tournament, or a game of any description in more than four years.
In this video, HITC Sevens takes a look at what has happened to Eritrea's national football team, where they've gone, and what their disappearance tells us about the country as a whole.
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MUM put the kettle on, alfie just posted a slightly obscure mini doco on eritrea's missing football team
In Turkey, there is a small group of Eritrean refugees here, mostly live surrounding Istanbul and a smaller group in Ankara. They are also diverse, from Orthodox Christians to Muslims, really feel sorry when Eritrea is governed by a maniac.
Theres a community in Switzerland too, very overlooked people
I knew an Eritrean years ago but back then I didn't know anything about the country. Now I always wonder how she managed to get out.
There were Eritrean football fans at Philadelphia last yeqr to cheer Isak and Newcastle United on v Villa.
Many Armenians would argue, myself included, that you guys are governed by a genocidal maniac as well (Erdogan).
They are like the zionists, but without American support 😂
I know a Chinese acquittance that lived near the border of North Korea that said her parents often spend a weekend in their neighbouring country as a day trip location. The fact that Eritrea seems to be surrounded by enemies points to the fact that they are by far more isolated that North Korea
Eritrea is on good terms with most of its neighbors. For instance, it's taken in lots of Sudanese refugees since the start of the war in Sudan. It's a volatile neighborhood but Eritrea's not isolated in that sense. Also, Eritreans can make international calls, watch foreign (satellite) TV, access other foreign media, use social media, etc.. Everything's not perfect obviously but it's actually less isolated than people are made to believe.
Peace and harmony is achieved
Alfie as an ERITREAN and follower of this chanel this is the best analysis about Eritrean football federation and Eritrea as country I have seen. Well done !
I was surprised & delighted as well when he produced this peace of information in regards of our country. Great job Alfie.
Same brotha
Its actually damning that I'm not finding out about the situation in Eritrea through the news, but through a video by a football youtuber about their national team
No oil? No freedom for you
It's in the news.. it has always been in the news. What you consume depends on what you search for. I bet you know more about the Kardashians than about Eritrea. That's no one's fault but yours. The person who did this documentary is human just like you but his interests are clearly different from yours.
Recent years have seen a high number of refugees leaving Eritrea, and some athletes travelling to competitions abroad have taken the opportunity to abscond.
In the first round of the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, ten players from the Eritrean football team refused to return home after playing a World Cup qualifying match in Botswana and were granted asylum there.
Yeah theres a lot of them in Switzerland , I grew up with a few
They gave us Alexander Isak
Same thing in Sweden with these Eritreans.
@@bababababababa6124still not a proper sweed cope more
honestly if you made a channel dedicated to documentaries about situations in different countries, i’d watch every episode.
Better to find informed people from countries you want to learn about and properly investigate. This doesn't do it.
And i doubt anyone outside Eritrea would ever even have noticed before you made this video
I actually had noticed looking through wcq, saw Eritrea had withdrawn and they weren't on the rankings and I was curious why.
I'd noticed that they were listed below san marino and looked into why and discovered they not played a game in ages
We are all in the same situation.
Eritrea did even withdrew from world cup 2026 qualifiers even though CAF already modified the format to include all countries since group stage round.
just add western sahara or some shit lol
@@alexjones9038Their (unrecognized) team actually played a game against Algerian side MC Alger last year. They lost 6-1 but scored a wonderful goal.
@@gts1300 well thats something, might get hammered 10- 0 all games against the other African nations but marswell chuck them in there
Sadly there are plenty of Eritreans murdered by their govt.
@@alexjones9038 eritrea was in Morocco's group
Good ol’ HITC Sevens:
Come for the football, stay for the geopolitics!
I salute you bro, these is so close to home its basically home I wish ever lasting peace for both Ethiopia and Eritrea
As an ethiopian and a follower of this channel for long time, I am amazed by both your enthusiam to know about issues westerners wouldn't necessarilly be interested in and the profund researches you conduct to aquire the resources you need for your videos but I'm also dissapointed by your absurd claims about most african and middle east countries disregarding the cultures, norms and psychological makeups of the people living in them. 90% of eritreans live in Ethiopia or other european countries like Sweden and UK . And not only Eritrea but the whole region also has high potential in variety of sports.
As an African, I'm not sure what your point is. He hasn't lied about anything he's said. If you are 'disappointed', it should be with incompetent and oppressive leaders in Africa and the Middle East. There's a reason why many Africans, including middle-class people with jobs, are running to live in the Western world. Meanwhile, you don't see people from other parts of the world desperately running to live in Africa and the Middle East. So there's clearly negative socio-economic issues in these regions which should be tackled. The truth is bitter sometimes.
I’m a 6’5 Eritrean but my parents always promoted school over sports, which is understandable. But maaaaaaaannnnnnnnnn I feel like I could’ve done some type of sport 😭
Are you wrong or deliberately saying that 90% of Eritreans live in exile? Eritreans in Ethiopia make up less than 1% of the total Eritrean population. The worldwide population of Eritrean refugees is also less than 20% on average, although research is needed. More than 30% of Ethiopians migrated at home and abroad. So don’t pass on misinformation.
Alfie, I love your longer videos. Keep it up.
Also, PLEASE cover the story of the England women's world cup team in 1971; the Lost Lionesses. An ultimately sad story, but hugely interesting.
Aren't they all pretty long?
That makes no sense, especially given the fact this team enjoyed a huge success in the international stages, winning the Euro 2022 at home soil and even playing in the World Cup Final for the first time since the men's side did so in 1966.
From Nigeria 🇳🇬 but I'm shock hearing about this cruelty being melted on a whole populated nation by it leaders 😢
You and me brother
Anybody else got fooled by the title thinking that Alfie was going to investigate the 11 players in thumbnail lost their lives?
This video is more explaining the death of football in that country. Tbh, their population size (3 Million) is actually enough to make a functioned national football team and federation.
I just read the tittle and didn’t even start the vid and immediately told my brothers “hey did you know this whole soccer team died ! Like the whole starting squad ! 🤡🤡” Lol. I’m out here giving false information within seconds 😂
Yes very effective click-bait
Totally relevant, as he explains how they really escaped death.
Typq shit I'd do😂@@hoodie5004
My country was scheduled to play Eritrea in the same group, and it was supposed to be our opening game of the 2026 WCQ, only for Eritrea to surprisingly announced withdrawal. Never mind what's going on with Eritrea, but it is crazy to know that it has been governed by a brutal regime for so long.
As an Eritrean I would like to thank you for putting us on the map with your video ❤❤
It's wild that I learned about one of the world's most brutal regimes through...a football video.
Lots of these Eritreans in Saudi Arabia, many of them Muslims. Feel sorry for them as well.
And Alfie, can you make a video about the demise of Kuwait? Once the winners of the 1980 Asian Cup, qualified for the 1982 World Cup, but now their football is just a shadow of former self. They even lost to Indonesia and India, which are historically Asia's weaklings. Their decline is even worse than that of China and I can only feel sad for our neighbour.
FIFA sanctions really hit them hard i would say, Indonesia football was not a powerhouse but at least we are middle ranking teams in Asia but after the chaos of local football since 2012 and sanctions for like 2 years i think, the spirit of football here is dropped significantly, only since last year our national team can bounce back(qualified to asian cup since 2007, 4th place in U23 asian cup) but the league and clubs standard still pretty poor compare to pre 2012. Kuwait itself (cmiw) was not as great as Saudi for example but they're competitive, hope they can become great again.
I think a video about the ongoing U-23 Asian Cup will be needed due to the political nature there. Indonesia recently shocked everyone by eliminating South Korea, a superpower of Asia, on penalties, and with Iraq and Saudi Arabia possibly joining, a potential winner from either three of them... will be drawn with Israel at the Olympics. None of the trio recognised Israel as a nation and had already joined boycotts over what's going on in Gaza, which mean if Saudi Arabia retained the title or Iraq and even the underdog Indonesia winning it, could result in a Olympic forfeit. In France recently, because of Indonesia's shock results, more and more police and military troops have been deployed to stadiums where Israel is scheduled to play.
Now it is crazy. A potential scenario of Israel facing Iraq, Saudi Arabia or Indonesia at the group stages will be unthinkable if not say unbelievable.
I’m honestly not surprised by Indonesia knocking out South Korea. The national team has been on the rise in recent months, and the Indonesia U-23 side is basically the Indonesia senior team given how young all their players are
@@wangsengsin2527 It's not about eliminating South Korea. It's the possibility of facing Israel if Indonesia continues this dream run. With the Gaza War ongoing, the Palestinian cause ran to the blood of many angry Indonesians, meaning that winning the trophy could bring rather risks instead of triumphs.
Isn't the U-23 Asian Cup also having Uzbekistan participating? Israel also got a draw with Mali. Both Uzbekistan and Mali are Muslim nations if I read right.
@@peruano-quichwa---aymara8611 Uzbekistan practised a different form of Islam that is deeply influenced by Turkic and Timurid mysticism, which found more common with their cousins Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey - also Turkic Muslim nations but similarly have diplomatic ties with Israel, so literally Uzbekistan isn't associated much with Palestine. Simultaneously, Mali practise a variety of Islam called Suwarism, which emphasised on pacifism and more into African nationalism (and sometimes included anti-Arabism), which mean Malians could care less about Palestine.
Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq practise a far more orthodox version of Islam.
Hearing that Eritrean footballers are trying to make it to the national team just so that they can get a chance to play abroad and apply for asylum is wild………
I always find it hard to understand the ultimate goal of these totalitarian leaders. At least some authoritarian leaders claim they are keeping power because it is the people’s choice and they are doing it to build a better future.
In many parts of the world, authoritarianism is the default. A vaguely functioning democracy has never been on the table. If you have never known any other type of government as even a possibility, isn't it understandable that the only aim would be to be top dog?
The case of Eritrea is quite strange and unique. I do recommend you to research it further if you want the answer to your question. It is more that I could write in this comment
One thing I learned from Alfie's latest video:
VATICAN HAS NATIONAL TEAM?!! AND THEY DON'T PLAY WITH ROBE AND STOLA?!! WHAT THE HECK I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THAT!
Also, 31:38 brought back that nightmarish public information film from Reporters Without Borders about that exact topics. Journalists being trapped inside shipping containers. Jesus Christ, even searching for the information gave me dread and chill.
Yes, the Vatican does have a team, but they very rarely play. The Vatican teams have usually just been made up of Swiss Guards and other Vatican employees. They’ve mostly just played against the Monaco national team (also not fifa-affiliated) and other microstates, tho they did once play a match against Palestine. It’s funny, Vatican City is so small that their national team doesn’t even play in the country, but quite close by in Rome (tho u can see the basilica from the field)
I really like how much I learn about other things than just football ... Really good stuff ... Thank you.
Can we have a vid on what on earth happened to Bursaspor, a club who were playing Man United just over a decade ago, and have now just been relegated to the 4th tier of Turkish football? Also, it’ll be worth covering them just to put the crocodile stadium on the thumbnail😂
To think that the first videos of urs I saw were those „top 7 in position x“ videos, comparing that to the football journalism this channel has evolved into, bringing light to situations „no one“ has heard of is astonishing, enjoyed every step of that development thoroughly, keep it up alfi
Could you please make a documentary about what is happening at Vitesse Arnhem?
yes please
Zealand made 2 vidéos about it if you are interested
He's American @@MaxLC69
No
Small correction: just like many English towns, the name of the Dutch city of Gorinchem is pronounced differently than it is written. It's pronounced 'Gorkum'.
1:07 The Eritrean captain who stands furthest to the right in the picture is Henok Goitom, another Swedish-born player with Eritrean parents. Goitom played for a couple of La Liga clubs, such as Murcia and Almeria, before he joined AIexander Isak's boyhood club AIK in 2012 where he played until his retirement in 2021 (apart from two short spells at Getafe and San José Earthquakes in 2016, which actually meant that Isak and Goitom never got to play together as Isak had his break through season for AIK in 2016). Scoring 100 competitive goals throughout his two spells at AIK, he is considered to be one of the greatest AIK players in modern times.
Earthquakes shout ❕
Nice fellow met him in 2019 in namibia.
@@DanielGooaaall they're all nice people!
sk braannn
is my dream club to play for
Thanks for this video, Alfie. I was browsing the FIFA world rankings a few weeks ago (as you do) and clocked that Eritrea were unranked. I did wonder why, but never followed it up. It's a pretty horrifying situation.
Fantastic video, it's a shame more people don't know about the general plight of Eritrea
I didn't know that Italy had that much influence over that region i know that it invaded Ethiopia in 1936 but its rule only lasted for something like 5 years so I'm suprised that there's such a prominent Italian legacy in that country far more than i would have expected
Italy's attempt at invading Ethiopia was a real embarrassment
@@AntoniusTyas That was in the 19th century. In 1936 however, Italy succeeded in conquering Ethiopia and annexed Ethiopia into its territory, meaning only Liberia stands as the last African nation to never be colonised (albeit because of a hilarious reason connected to the USA).
Italy successfully colonised both Eritrea and most of Somalia during the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa. Their rule over those territories only ended in 1941, once the Allies conquered the italian colonies in East Africa during WW2. Thus, Italy has had about the same impact over Africa as, say, the UK or the french over their own, considering most nations in Africa were decolonised shortly after WW2.
@@dariuszdudka1991 Ethiopia was never colonized. What are you yapping about?
@@FlamingBasketballClub Do you learn history? It was conquered in 1936. And what did you learn?
Congrats on 600k Alfie 🎉
The way you make interesting and entertaining documentaries on history and modern day geopolitics under the guise of simple soccer videos is by far my favorite form of content on youtube. Please never change alfie, you are a benefit to us all
Great Video as always Alfie Glad someone's highlighting it On point as always
One of your best, I love it when you incorporate history into your videos like this.
Please do Top 7 footballers that succeeded with irregular distinctive physical features (Garrincha's strange legs, Campos only being 5ft 6 for a goalkeeper, possibly Akinfenwa's abnormally large size due to his muscle mass)
Just getting started on the vid and can guess it'll be a desperately sad story. I've worked with a lot of Eritrean kids that have come to the UK and it sounds like an abject nightmare to live under that regime.
I found this video interesting and informative, thank you Alfie 👍
26:49 as soon as i saw the title i spent the whole video waiting for the mention of alex isak as he’s now considered one of the best strikers in the world but very few people realise how he got there.
This was a really great upload! Thanks again for the amazing content.
I actually did a project about the EPLF for a civil wars class in college. Crazy story about their rise. Very very cool video Alfie. If you’re personally interested in this topic there is a Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front in the Eastern Tigrayan region of Ethiopia that has been trying to do the same thing that Eritrea did since the early 2000s.
Absolute banger. This might be one of my favorite videos you’ve done!!
being a football and history nerd, your channel is a blessing
Fantastically researched video (as always) Alfie. I live in Africa but knew hardly any of this 😮
Great documentary (as always), your channel is extremely informative anything footbal related and this is just another example how through the love for this sport, people can find out more about news that usually are not shown in mainstream western media. Thank you for this great piece of journalism!
I been waiting for this video alphie, thanks for sharing my country sad story 😢
I noticed about a year ago was always curious thank you.
Love the history lesson with footy
So happy to see a vid like this my freind is from Eritrea and I’ve always wondered why they haven’t played
Yesss!!! This is the one I’ve been waiting for!!!
What a great video, I would pay to listen to your documentaries on anything history related. Doesn't even need to be football
Eritreans are the nicest people. 2 of my closest friends are eritrean. I allways get along with eritreans here in sweden. And I never met any Albanians who don't get along with eritreans. There's something that makes us get along with eachother but Idk what it is.
Eritreans are generally very civil socially speaking. When it comes to politics though that is another matter.
The same here as a Swedish fellow. Eritreans are nice people.
One of the best videos so far!
Eritrean football blogger here. Have been in contact with the federation since over a decade. The president of the FA has blocked me and many many more. Have visited the last qualification match vs namibia and spent with the team in 2019. The federation and the country itself is a mess. Its so sad
Alfie calls it, "who doesn't want to learn more about Eritrea"
I forgot I was watching HITC sevens for about 5mins then. Great video
Excellent analysis-Eye opener
Truly great video
Another great video Alf
if you ask the Ethiopians about the Italians, they will tell you they weren't colonized
And they are arguably right. Whilst the Italians occupied Ethiopia after the end of the second Italo-Ethiopian war in 1936, this really an occupation and not colonialisation. The Italians never controlled all of the territory, resistance persisted for the whole next four years and by the latter half of 1941, the Allies and the Ethiopian Exile government had deposed them.
And if you ask 30 percent of the United States, the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from Donald Trump. People are delusional everywhere in the world.
Reminds me of a persian proverb:
A mad man sees everyone as insane.
Because they weren't colonized well unless then you can say Germany colonized France?
I've been waiting to find out why they haven't been ranked for months, but didn't realise that I'd learn about the entire history of a country that I've never really ever thought about😮😮
Everything you said about my country is true sad but true..
Really sad that this one had to go for many reasons, one of which that their kits absolutely slap
No wonder Alexander isak did not want to play for them
He couldn’t if he wanted to lol
Thank you for covering our football team. Between the defections (asylum seeking) and our non-existent football association I knew we would withdraw from WC qualifiers. I was surprised they even decided to participate initially. Sadly, our national football team is the least of our concerns.
I love a good history lesson with Alfie. I was not even desperate for him to move on to talking more about football.
You really have a talent and ability to focus on unique football stories that nobody writes or talks about.
Still waiting for a video about football of my tragic country of Iran, a country that produced a lot of talents yet underperformed in many major tournaments (Asian Cup and World Cup), and how corruption caused by the Islamic Republic ruined our football potential.
Cracking research delivery. And football
Now this is the type of content we're here for
Thanks, Alfie, for putting the Eritreans' plight into perspective 👍
Before even watching this video, I know it's because they all defect to wherever they're playing. I'm sure I read somewhere that the FA gave up on entering competitions because most players kept escaping
I'll have to check back on this after watching
Most informative, surprising, beneficial to gain knowledge comment section in a long while
This reminds me of when I was a kid and was playing FIFA 15 and I saw Goitom from AIK and Eritrea and wondered how Eritrea couldn't be a decent national team if they had a really good striker in a European league
When that photo (thumbnail)was taken, I was in that stadium and my country BW won that match 3-0. Some of the players never left our country and are still alive and well in a refugee camp (last I heard)
3-1. Eritrea Was leading for a few minutes. Henok Goitom scored
Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 627)
I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored.
If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.
That's one of the dedication I saw, pal. Don't give up 🙏🏻
Bro really is dedicated 😂
YOU ARE THE MAN OF FOCUS, COMMITMENT AND SHEER WILL!
You are a person of formidable will and resilience. You should probably run for president!
I wonder what your interest in specifically german players in the Premier League? Why not Dutch for example that were very prominent in the 2000's? Just curious
What could have been Eritrean XI
As an Eritrean subscriber thanks for making the video. Our players are basically like the Cuban athletes crazy.
Is this even a football channel anymore ( love the content)
I don't know why but Alfie could do episodes on pretty much any random subject and it would be interesting to listen to
Another lesson in politics and history, disguised as football content. Exactly what I am here for.
600k congrats
My father was one of the committee of Eritrean football federation working as partime i had great memories ❤ we have problems but no matter what happened we never give up as A country do not black mail and leave us alone.
great video, this is also quite common in baseball with cuba to an extent (19:01) the thing about cuba though is that in baseball their very very good (the talent that hails from cuba in baseball is akin to the talent argentina produces in futbol) so they're invited/qualified to almost every youth and pro tournament and the government will still allow them to participate in most because they have a legitimate shot at winning them so its very common to see a handful of players to defect through these tournaments everytime they happen. A couple elite prospects have even gone through the process of paying organized crime syndactes to escape the country because of how much they can make in american baseball. perhaps some people might find this interesting.
Why aren’t the players allowed to just go to other countries to play? I Remember when céspedes had a very arduous journey to oakland after he left Cuba then Mexico on his way to mlb. Just curious
@@Aeolus_ca I think it has to do with the governments sadly though I do remember a few years ago I think the MLB themselves tabled a resolution for a better immigration policy specifically for baseball players from cuba looking to go to the states but the trump regime didnt allow it to pass but I dont quite remember so my details may be off
That’s sad. I remember the the athletics announced Cespedes, fans started calling him the ‘cuban missle’ 🤣
That is one of the saddest things I have heard in regards to football. Not having a national team anymore, because of the fear of defection. Absolutely insane.
Henok Goitom (seen in the thumbnail) received some criticism in Sweden when he decided to play for Eritrea since they still are holding Swedish citizen Dawit Isaak captive since 2001 (if he is alive).
Here in the Netherlands the Eritrean regime have a lot of supporters who are harassing a lot of Eritrean refugees.
There is nothing like my favorite Voltaire quote to make my day
„Whereas other states have an army, the Prussian Army has a state.“
Never thought I would watch a football video and there would be a reference to His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie, Jah Rastafari. Thank you Alfie.
this is such a cool video !
Video on the best deserve/B teams - some fascinating stories!
Absolutely! Fiago once made a video about a b team ascending to the latter stages, I think final of DFB Pokal, it was really nice!
@@Punk_Tovarisch Yep, Hertha B! Plenty more interesting stories too.
The line about the Eritrean Premier League being the real EPL almost made me spit my water out 😂 Another great video! 👏
Congratulations on 600k! 1m coming in 2025 I can feel it
I love this channel
Sad, they have decent players. They have some in Swedish league and prolly ìn other leagues aswell that play for another nation.
If Eritrea get their act together, they could call up some decent players from the diaspora, including Hamburg striker Robert Glatzel.
This is one of those I only watch because of Alfie’s talents (I watch all of them)
Eritreans are tough people like us Somalis . We both are going through tough times but we’ll make it back , I’m sure of it .
Much love to you and all my Somali brothers and sisters.
Hahaa! The photo on the thumbnail was taken in my city of birth, Francistown, in Botswana. Some Eritrean footballers sought asylum in Botswana after that game. I wonder what ever happened to them
Alfie does smash these small mini-docs.
Thank you for the coverage, Alfie. However, football is the least of our worries. We need our basic human rights restored first.
Yes sir!
I like to consider myself globally conscious but I have never heard of Eritrea until recently and never knew how bad it is
I loved this history lesson.