Djibouti (Sunatimes) Somalia drew 0-0 with Ethiopia in their pre-World Cup qualifier in neutral Djibouti on Saturday, almost a decade after Somalia beat Ethiopia 1-0.

Despite crippled by two decades of civil war, Somalia managed to hold Ethiopia on ground as the two east African countries began their quest to qualify for football’s 2014 showpiece in Brazil.

The East African countries met at Hassan Gulleid Abtidon Stadium in Djibouti on Saturday afternoon because of the security situation in the troubled Somali capital Mogadishu.

Somali Football Federation used the neighbouring Djibouti as its home country since Mogadishu could not host international matches because of security reasons.

Bar-kulan correspondent in the Stadium says thousands of Djiboutians thronged in the stadium to cheer for the Somali team, adding that the number of Djiboutians boosted the Somali players’ moral.

Hundreds of thousands of Somali-Ethiopian fans around the world were watching the match on the Djibouti government’s television the RTD while thousands of Somalis were tuned to Nairobi-based Bar-kulan radio, where the match was broadcasted live on air.

In Mogadishu streets thousands of fans were seen toned to Radio Bar-kulan listening to what was being broadcasted live from Al-Hajji Hassan Guled Stadium in Djibouti.

During the hotly-contested match each side made many scoring attempts, but all lost golden opportunities.

In the second half of the match, the Ethiopina team reduced in number after one player was given a red card for stepping on Somalia’s Anwar.

The former Somalia couch, Abdullahi Yussuf alias Baskuwala told Bar-kulan that the Somali national team lost several much-needed opportunities that could have seen it beat the Ethiopia team during the play.

He hoped that Somalia will beat Ethiopian next Wednesday in Addis Ababa, where the two teams are set to meet again.

Somali team needs just a scoring draw in Addis Ababa next week to progress to the main African qualifying competition and take its place alongside the continent’s big-name teams. Somalia beat Ethiopia 1-0 in 2002.

Meanwhile, the Somali National football team is due to travel to Addis Ababa on Sunday in preparations for the second match of the preliminary qualifying clash which will be held in Addis Ababa on 15th of November.

By Dahir Alasow