ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) While revelations swirl of FIFA executives in expensive suits taking millions in bribes to award money-spinning World Cups, some of the poorest teams face near-impossible challenges to make it to soccer's biggest tournament, and try their hearts out anyway.
Somalia is one of those teams.
This week, Somalia's players prepared for their opening game in Africa's first round of qualifying for Russia 2018 with a training session in a hotel car park in a shanty neighborhood on the outskirts of Ethiopia's capital city.
Running on the rough asphalt in their sneakers, and dodging the parked cars of other hotel guests, the Somali national team players didn't seem to mind.