In football, at least, there is much to look forward to. The Eritrean Football Association was only affiliated to CAF in 1997, and FIFA a year  later. But, like FIFA's other members, it stands to receive $1m over the next four years from the 1998 World Cup revenues, and it has also been selected for assistance under the Euro-African Meridian agreement. There are ambitious ideas for spending the money in all areas of the game, at national, club and youth level. "We plan to change the structure totally," says federation Chairman Solomon Sium, a former colonel in the liberation army. "After two years, we want to extend the First Division to clubs outside the capital, Asmara, and also to allow other teams to compete in African Cup tournaments. Our aim is to guide and motivate the young players."

Though he acknowledges "the big gap" that Eritrean football must still bridge to compete in African tournaments successfully, Sium shares the ambitions of his people. "From the masses, we will get the best," he says. "But first we need experience. Only after five or six years can we hope to compete with other African teams, even as we did in 1963." That was the day when, in the third Nations Cup final, eight Eritreans turned out for the victorious Ethiopian side - who beat Egypt, the favourites, to the title. Three Eritreans scored as the underdogs came back from 2-0 down, to win 4-2 in extra time. Two of the Ethiopian goals were scored by Eritrean-Italian brothers, underlining that the Italian influence in Eritrea goes well beyond great pizzas and cappuccino coffee. Fancy footwork and deft skills are part of Eritrean culture too.

"On that day we all received a medal and 500 birr from Emperor Haile Selassie," recalls Kiflum Areya, a defender picked from the Asmara select side that played between 1962 and 1968. "We were pure amateur players and sometimes we had only enough time for a wash, a drink of tea and some bread between our jobs and playing football. But we were hard workers on the field. "In those days, we played a 4-2-4 system and we got lots of international experience. The same players competed together over a period of four years, against sides from Romania, Israel, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Russia."

The nation's football reached its high point with that 1963 final. But although cup tournaments across the Ethiopian empire provided a chance for players to compete for national selection, the side's best performance after that was a fourth place in the 1968 Nations Cup in Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian annexation of Eritrea in 1961 was, meanwhile, changing circumstances completely and the struggle for independence became the more pressing reality for Eritrean players, particularly those selected from Asmara.

Areya, a national selector for 15 years after his playing career ended, admits: "At that time, many of our players went to fight in the field or, like the striker Mohammed Abdella who went to play in Saudi Arabia, escaped of other countries. As the expert players left the team, the quality of the side decreased."

As Eritrean football went underground or abroad, leaving next to no players available for Ethiopian selection, there were to be no more victories, despite the introduction of an Italian coach in the early 1970s. "During that time, the players had some technique, but they were less physically strong," reflects Eritrean FA chairman Sium. "There was no team spirit. Worst of all, the experiences of the previous players were not passed on to the next generation."

As other African teams developed and gained international experience, the players who did stay behind were left begging for support while funds were diverted to military purposes. However, some players who had fled the war regrouped outside Eritrea to play friendly games in Iraq and Syria. Playing under the Eritrean Liberation Front banner, they lost only one game out of the ten they managed to arrange between 1975 and 1978. One of these players was goalkeeper Habte Abraha, who later coached the Eritrean Sudanese Community team before returning home to coach Red Sea, the current domestic champions. "One of the reasons why our current squad has improved is because of the mass expulsion of Eritreans from Ethiopia since the start of the present conflict," says Abraha with a smile. "Thanks to Ethiopia, we are a stronger side." Despite the effects of a prolonged war, the post-independence years have not been wasted. The Sports Affairs Department at the Ministry of Education boasts that some 2,600 teams currently play football across the country, including girls' teams who it is hoped will be ready to compete abroad in two years' time. For a country of little over three million people, Eritrea obviously can't get enough of the game.

One of the most hopeful signs is the success reaped by the country's youngest players. Since 1994, Eritrean youth teams have been special guests at tournaments such as the Norway Cup, the Dana Cup, the Stockholm Cup, the Austria Cup and the Gothia Cup in Sweden. To everyone's surprise, except perhaps the Eritreans', their Under-12 and Under-13 club teams have emerged as victors in 13 such youth competitions. And these are not small tournaments. Last year, for example, almost 1,200 sides, between the ages of 12 and 19, from 60 different countries, competed in the Gothia Cup, with up to 160 teams in one age group. "Most of the hard work is done by the players themselves," says Alem Ghiday, the government's head of youth and sport. "Football is their main entertainment. They learn by playing every day. The best come from outside Asmara. The city kids are spoilt compared to those from other zones. All the winning youth teams - Maitemenay, Keren, Ghinda, and Barentu - have come from outside Asmara." Fitsum Haile, one of the players from Ghinda, the winners of the 1997 Under-13 Dana Cup, explains: "The other teams have a good technique, but after some time they get very tired." Weeks before the competition, his side were training in the very humid and scorching climate of the port of Massawa. The stamina of these young players helped them to beat apparently stronger, more skilful, teams. Unfortunately, the conflict with Ethiopia meant they could not return to Denmark last year. Another successful young team is Keren. They took home the 1997 Gothia Cup, sailing through their semi-final 13-1 before winning on penalties against Dynamo Kiev youth. One of their players, Haile Goitom, so impressed the organisers that he was voted the best Under-13 player of the championship. Third place the following year was regarded as a disappointment.

Such consistency has not come without sacrifice. "The teams spend three months being coached and trained, then in the final three weeks they are given good food and live together in a hotel away from their families," says Sium. "All this is paid for from our sports budget. Food and hard training is essential, but you have to know hardship - it is a great teacher." But will these youthful seeds of victory bear fruit at a more senior level? The government's Alem Ghiday points to the success of Nakfa, an experimental Under-19 national grouping named after the new Eritrean currency, who won the Gothia "B" Cup last year. Fewer than half of Nakfa's players came from Asmara, underlining the breadth of skill across the country. One of them, Mohammed Abubeker, from the remote western border town of Tessanae, is now playing as a semi-professional for Red Sea and another four are with Tesfa, an amateur side recently promoted to the First Division.

Like the rest of the country, Eritrean football is still very much in transition. The capital itself hosts three divisions of 34 teams, with the top eight teams playing weekly at the national stadium. However, tournaments outside the capital are almost non-existent and clubs other than Asmara's "big six" are of a much lower standard and suffer from a serious lack of facilities and coaching personnel.

All the current national team players come from the "big six". Eight are from Megbi, Eritrea's very physical representatives in the 1999 CAF Cup; four are from Cup Winners' Cup competitors Hinsa, who were edged out 4-3 on aggregate in the preliminary round by Bata Bullets of Malawi; while star striker Yidnekachew Shemanegus plays his club football with another Asmara  side, Adulis. However, it is Red Sea that dominate the game locally. In 1997, the club reached the third round of the CAF Cup, with a notable victory over Ismailia of Egypt, before going out to Costa do Sol of Mozambique. And as Red Sea's prestige and international exposure have grown, so the fans have followed, packing the national stadium well beyond its 10,000 capacity for the those CAF Cup games. "When this side plays, they fill the stadium," says club founder Keleta Asfeha.

Looking towards the future, however, the club's chairman, Abraham Areya, is realistic about the challenges facing Eritrean football. "There is a lack of  sponsorship here and we cannot expect our government to finance sport," he says. "We must generate our own income. We have some ideas for a supporters' club and various fund-raising benefits, but we really need help from European clubs and more sponsorship from big companies. Things are just starting here with local sponsorship, possibly with soft drinks manufacturers in the future."

Such pragmatism is shared by the veteran Kiflum Areya, whose international playing days have taught him a few home truths about the state of the game in Eritrea. "I expect the present side have little chance to qualify for the Nations Cup," he confessed before the qualifying series began. Having played no more than a few friendlies in the last couple of years, no one really expected the opening game in Mozambique to be anything other than a home win. All of the goals came in the first half, with the Mambas finding the net three times before Eritrean captain Amanuel Iyassu headed in from a corner just before half-time. After the game, the Mozambique coach praised the inexperienced visitors for the strength of their team performance. In particular, he picked out three

Eritreans for praise: skipper Iyassu for his level of fitness and experience, Efrem Meles for his technique, and Mussie Brhane, described in the local press as "the man who can't get tired". The Mambas' coach will be all the more wary of the return tie in Asmara next  June, given Cameroon's experience at the capital's 2,500 metre altitude. First, however, the Eritreans must test their mettle against Ghana in Accra.

Much of the credit for the side's impressive start in international competition goes to their Egyptian coach, Mohammed Mushir, hired under a co-operation agreement between the respective governments. A former international midfielder himself, Mushir has 20 years of coaching experience, including spells with top Cairo club Al-Ahly and as assistant coach to the Egyptian national squad. "We are a very young team with no real experience," sums up team captain Iyassu. "But we will sacrifice ourselves for every ball. "Football is the new diplomacy for Eritrea. Our strength is our unity."