Five things you didn't know about Comoros
Comoros players training in Moroni on November 9, 2020.
What you need to know:
- The team is captained by Youssouf M’Changama, who is their most capped player having played for Les Coelacantes 33 times. Coach Amir Abdou admitted he is the spine of the team recently.
- The 30-year old central midfielder, who plays for Guingamp in the French Ligue 2, started his career at Marseille.
Harambee Stars faces Comoros in back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers on Wednesday in Nairobi and Sunday in Moroni.
Ahead of the crucial games, here are some facts about Comoros that you need to know about the islanders, who arrived in the country on Tuesday evening.
Comoros has never qualified for the Afcon
The tiny Island nation has never qualified for Afcon. Comoros became a member of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) in 2003 and Fifa in 2005. They first entered the Afcon and World Cup Qualifiers in 2010, but lost in the preliminary round 2-10 to Madagascar.
The team advanced past the first round for the first time during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers after edging Lesotho on away goals after two draws.
After beating Togo in Lome and drawing against Egypt at home, Les Coelacantes now seat at the helm of Group G of the 2021 Afcon qualifiers with four points and are eager to qualify for the continental showpiece for the first time in their history.
Their top player Big Ben plays in Serbia
The team is majorly composed of relatively unknown players plying their trade in lower-tier leagues in Europe, mainly France. However, their top player is 31-year-old striker, El Fardou Ben Nabouhane, commonly referred to as Big Ben, who is in the books of Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade.
He scored a brace recently as Red Star thrashed Slovan Liberec 5-1 in an Europa League clash.
The man behind the team’s rise
The Comoros Football Federation appointed Abdou Amir as the national team head coach in 2014, much to the surprise of many. The federation approached Abdou while he was in charge of Entente Golfech-Saint-Paul d'Espis, a team in France’s sixth tier.
Born in Marseille in 1972 and of Comoran ancestry, Abdou was initially offered a position as assistant coach to Henri Stambouli, but when Stambouli turned the job down, Abdou took it up despite his inexperience and six years down the line, he has managed to put the team in the African football map.
The team has jumped from position 198th in the FIifa World Rankings when Abdou took over to 132nd currently.
“You don’t need to have amazing players. If you’ve got a healthy and hard-working group of players and you don’t have any problems with egos, then you can get the same results as any dream team. We play to our strengths: discipline, organisation and a fantastic team spirit," Abdou Amir said in a recent interview with Fifa.
They have had just two training sessions ahead of this game
Comoros has not had any proper training sessions ahead of the first leg encounter with Kenya in Nairobi.
The team had just one training session in Moroni on Monday evening and another on Tuesday at Kasarani.
However, they are not to be underrated as a large chunk of players in their squad ply their trade in Europe and have been actively involved at club level.
The loyal servant Youssouf M'Changama
The team is captained by Youssouf M’Changama, who is their most capped player having played for Les Coelacantes 33 times. Coach Amir Abdou admitted he is the spine of the team recently.
The 30-year old central midfielder, who plays for Guingamp in the French Ligue 2, started his career at Marseille.
