View source for Mengistu Worku

{{Short description|Ethiopian footballer and manager}}
{{Patronymic name|Mengistu|Worku|his|father}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Mengistu Worku
| image          =
| caption        = 
| fullname       =
| birth_date     = 1940
| birth_place    = 
| death_date     = 16 December {{death year and age|2010|1940}}
| death_place    = [[Addis Ababa]], [[Ethiopia]]
| height         =
| position       = [[Forward (association football)|Forward]]
| youthyears1    = 
| youthclubs1    = 
| years1         = 1956–1972
| clubs1         = [[Saint George S.C.|Saint George]]
| nationalyears1 = 1959–1970
| nationalteam1  = [[Ethiopia national football team|Ethiopia]]
| nationalcaps1  = 98
| nationalgoals1 = 61
| manageryears1  = 
| managerclubs1  = [[Saint George S.C.|Saint George]]
| manageryears2  = 1980–1982
| managerclubs2  = [[Ethiopia national football team|Ethiopia]]
| manageryears3  =
| managerclubs3  = [[Ethiopian Insurance F.C.]]
| manageryears4  =
| managerclubs4  = [[EEPCO F.C.]]
| manageryears5  =
| managerclubs5  = [[CBE SA]]
| manageryears6  =
| managerclubs6  = [[Wonji Sugar]]
| medaltemplates = 
{{Medal|Country|{{fb|ETH}}}}
{{Medal|Sport|Men's [[Association football|football]]}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[Africa Cup of Nations]]}}
{{Medal|W|[[1962 Africa Cup of Nations|1962 Ethiopia]]|}} 
{{Medal|3rd|[[1959 Africa Cup of Nations|1959 United Arab Republic]]|}}
}}

'''Mengistu Worku''' ([[Amharic]]: መንግስቱ ወርቁ; 1940 – 16 December 2010) was an Ethiopian [[Association football|footballer]], recognised as one of the best Ethiopian footballers in history with [[Luciano Vassalo]] and [[Yidnekatchew Tessema]]. He is best known for his role in the final of the [[1962 African Nations Cup]], and for being the head coach to take the [[Ethiopia national football team|Ethiopia national team]] to the [[1982 African Cup of Nations|African Nations Cup]] in [[Libya]] in 1982.<ref name=EthioSports>Mamo Gebrehiwot, [http://www.ethiosports.com/2010/12/16/ethiopia%E2%80%99s-legendary-footballer-mengistu-worku-has-died/ "Ethiopia Football: Legendary Footballer Mengistu Worku has died"], EthioSports website (accessed 26 December 2010)</ref><ref>[http://www.ethiosun.com/2010/12/gonderew-ethiopias-football-legend-passes-at-70-1940-2010/ Gonderew, Ethiopia’s Football Legend Mengistu Worku Passes at 70 (1940–2010)], ''Ethiosun'' (accessed 4 June 2011)</ref>

==Career==
During the [[1962 African Nations Cup]], Mengistu scored one goal in the [[1962 African Cup of Nations Final|final]] of the [[1962 African Nations Cup|3rd African cup]] against [[Egypt national football team|Egypt]],{{efn|name=final|Mengistu Worku was initially credited with scoring twice in the final, but later, one of his goals in the 84th minute was attributed to [[Luciano Vassallo]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tables/62a.html |title=African Nations Cup 1962 |publisher=RSSSF |date=30 March 2021 }}</ref>}} when Ethiopia won their first major trophy. He was named player of the tournament, the first Ethiopian to claim that award. Ethiopia scored the most in that tournament with four goals on the final. He debuted with [[Saint George FC|Saint-George SA]] in 1957 and remained with the club for the entirety of his career. Mengistu was given numerous offers to play professionally for teams in Italy's [[Serie A]] and France, as well as Egypt's [[El Zamalek]], but like earlier legend and coach [[Ydnekatchew Tessema|Ydnekatchew]], he refused all offers and stayed in Ethiopia wearing Saint George's characteristic "V" across his chest. Mengistu wore the number 8 for the entirety of his club and national team career.  His international career began in 1958 and ended in 1970, following disappointment in the [[1970 African Cup of Nations|7th African Nations cup]] in Sudan, where Ethiopia finished bottom of their group. He still managed to score three goals, the only Ethiopian goals in that tournament. Mengistu played two more years with Saint George, retiring in 1972. He is the seventh-highest scorer in the history of the [[African Cup of Nations]] with ten goals.

Mengistu coached the national team after retirement, but the team failed to match the success it found during his playing days. He did, however, coach the country to their first-ever CECAFA cup title in [[1987 CECAFA Cup|1987]], when the tournament was hosted by Ethiopia.

In 2001, Mengistu was struck by a tumor, and doctors had told him he had only months to live. With treatment unavailable in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian billionaire [[Mohammed Al Amoudi]] paid for Mengistu to travel to South Africa for treatment. "It was because of Al Amoudi that I am standing before you today," he said on Ethiopian television.

At the [[2002 CECAFA Cup]], Mengistu was honored before the tournament kickoff by the [[Council for East and Central Africa Football Association]], along with five other [[east Africa]]n footballers and three referees, including [[Tesfaye Gebreyesus]], the Ethiopian who refereed at three ACN tournaments.

==Career statistics==

===International goals===
{{Expand list|date=August 2020}}

:''Scores and results list Ethiopia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Worku goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Mengistu Worku
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
!scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|References}}
|-
|align="center"|1
|{{dts|14 January 1962}} 
|[[Addis Ababa Stadium|Hailé Sélassié Stadium]], [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia
|{{fb|TUN}} 
|align=center|
|align="center"|4–2
|[[1962 Africa Cup of Nations]]
|
|-
|align="center"|2
|{{dts|21 January 1962}} 
|Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
|{{fb|UAR}} 
|align="center"|4–2
|align="center"|4–2
|[[1962 Africa Cup of Nations]]
|{{efn|name=final}}
|-
|align="center"|3
|{{dts|28 November 1963}} 
|[[Accra Sports Stadium]], [[Accra]], Ghana
|{{fb|TUN}} 
|align="center"|
|align="center"|4–2
| [[1963 Africa Cup of Nations]]
|
|-
|align="center"|4
|{{dts|13 May 1964}} 
|[[Olympic Stadium (Athens)|Olympic Stadium]], [[Athens]], Greece
|{{fb|GRE|old}} 
|align="center"|1–2
|align="center"|1–3
|Friendly
|
|-
|align="center"|5
|rowspan="2"|{{dts|19 February 1967}} 
|rowspan="2"|[[Khartoum Stadium]], [[Khartoum]], Sudan
|rowspan="2"|{{fb|KEN}} 
|align="center"|1–0
|align="center" rowspan="2"| 2–0
|rowspan="2"|1967 East African Friendship Cup
|
|-
|align="center"|6
|align="center"|2–0
|
|-
|align="center"|7
|{{dts|16 January 1968}} 
|Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
|{{fb|ALG}} 
|align="center"|1–0
|align="center"|3–1
|[[1968 Africa Cup of Nations]]
|
|-
|align="center"|8
|{{dts|19 January 1968}} 
|Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
|{{fb|DRC|1966}} 
|align="center"|1–2 
|align="center"|2–3
|1968 Africa Cup of Nations
|
|-
|align="center"|9
|{{dts|4 May 1969}} 
|Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
|{{fb|Sudan|1956}} 
|align="center"|1–1
|align="center"|1–1
|[[1970 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|
|-
|align="center"|10
|rowspan="2"|{{dts|8 February 1970}} 
|rowspan="2"|Khartoum Stadium, Khartoum, Sudan
|rowspan="2"|{{fb|Cameroon|1961}} 
|align="center"|1–0
|align=center rowspan="2"| 2–3
|rowspan="2"|[[1970 Africa Cup of Nations]]
|
|-
|align="center"|11
|align="center"|2–3
|
|-
|align="center"|12
|{{dts|10 February 1970}} 
|Khartoum Stadium, Khartoum, Sudan
|{{fb|CIV}} 
|align="center"|1–2
|align="center"|1–6
|1970 Africa Cup of Nations
|
|-
|}

==Honors==
===International===
;Ethiopia
*[[Africa Cup of Nations]]: [[1962 African Cup of Nations|1962]]

===Individual===
*[[Africa Cup of Nations awards#Best Player|Africa Cup of Nations Best Player]]: 1962

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== Sources ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.rsssf.org/tables/59a-det.html RSSSF entry]
* [https://www.angelfire.com/ak/EgyptianSports/versusETHIOPIA.html#Ethiopia62 Egypt vs. Ethiopia]
* {{FIFA player|54119}}
* {{YouTube|vUEpWNR2I38|Mengistu talks about Al Amoudi from 4:18 to 7:29}}

{{Africa Cup of Nations Player of the Tournament}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worku, Mengistu}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:Footballers from Addis Ababa]]
[[Category:Ethiopian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Saint George S.C. players]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Ethiopia men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Ethiopia national football team managers]]
[[Category:1959 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1962 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1963 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1965 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1968 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1970 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:Ethiopian football managers]]
[[Category:Africa Cup of Nations–winning players]]
[[Category:1982 African Cup of Nations managers]]