Sheffield United’s Siem Eyob-Abraha was a goalscoring hero for his country on Wednesday as he came off the bench to help them to victory on their return to international football following a lengthy absence.

Eritrea, which is situated in the east of Africa, haven’t had a side since 2008 after pulling out following widely-reported concerns that players and coaching staff were seeking asylum when traveling to other countries for matches.

The country’s federation pulled the plug after their African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign that year, without offering any reasons why but announced last year that they would return for the next edition of the competition with president Paulos Andemariam saying: "After positive discussions with our government we have registered to play in the 2027 AFCON and I believe we will have a strong team, including many Eritreans playing outside Africa.”

In their first match back, Eritrea took on Eswatini in a preliminary round first leg qualifier, though the tie had to be played in Meknes, Morocco, over 3,000 miles away from the Eritrean capital, Asmara due to the lack of an international-standard stadium in the country.

Eighteen-year-old Blades youngster Eyob-Abraha opened the scoring against Eswatini, direct from a corner in the 81st minute with Ali Suleiman registering a second in injury time.

Eyob-Abraha has been at United for almost two years after a spell with Manchester United. He was born in Eritrea but his family emigrated to the UK in 2019 when he joined the Red Devils. Following his release there and a subsequent trial at the Blades’ Shirecliffe Academy, Eyob-Abraha signed a professional contract in July last year.

The forward will now travel with the side to Eswatini for the return match on Tuesday, with a place in the group-phase qualifiers on the line.