Loza Abera: The Ethiopian goal machine turning heads in Malta

December 11, 2019 Semonegna Sports 0

Loza Abera
Loza Abera (PHOTO: Birkirkara F.C.)

By Chibuogwu Nnadiegbulam (AIPS Media)

VALLETTA – After turning heads with a consistent performance on home soil, finishing as top scorer in the Ethiopian Women’s Premier League (EWPL) for four straight seasons, Loza Abera is currently living the dream in Malta with Birkirkara Football Club, the island country’s second most successful women’s club side.

With nine goals in six matches so far, including a hat-trick, plus one goal in a friendly, there is no gainsaying the fact that the Ethiopia international has proved herself a huge asset to the eight-time champions.

Birkirkara Women announced the signing of the 22-year-old goal machine on September 25. “It was not an easy journey, it took me years to land my first ever professional contract,” Loza* tweeted afterwards, while appreciating the “many humble people” that contributed to her move abroad. She has gone on to feature for the Stripes in every game since the start of the 2019/20 BOV Women’s League season in October, scoring in all but one.

And being a serial winner herself, with four successive EWPL titles to her name, Loza Abera is hoping that her goalscoring prowess will help her new team retain their league title, and consequently qualify for next season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League.

Although, being in a completely new environment – with a different culture, language and playing style – makes the task all the more challenging, she told AIPS that “football is the universal language” with which she communicates with her teammates.

Last year, she had a brief, but impressive trial spell in Sweden, spending most her time with second tier side Kungsbacka IF, where she scored important goals, won a regional title, and helped the team gain promotion to the top flight. However, her love affair with Kungsbacka could not metamorphose into a permanent contract ahead of the following season due to finance.

“There is no extra cost for signing a player from Europe, but for a player coming from another continent, you will have to pay work permit fee. The club couldn’t do that. It was not a matter of talent or ability,” Loza explained to the BBC.

Continue reading this story at AIPS Media

* Ethiopians use patronymic names rather than family names. That is, a person in Ethiopia is addressed by his/her given name as there is no such thing as ‘family name’ or ‘inherited name.’