In Cameroon the two national teams will debut in the largest continental event. The islanders will become the smallest territory to ever play the tournament. The Gambians, who have also fished from our Serie C, in difficulty due to the many positives at Covid
The incredible journey of Scorpions and Coelacanths, a nickname that derives from a now rare breed of fish, has reached the finish line. Next week the Gambia and the Comoros Islands, the national team of the small archipelago between Madagascar and Mozambique, will make their debut for the first time in the Africa Cup of Nations. Days full of history, always expected. They became a reality thanks also to the expansion of the competition, which in recent years has been taken from 16 to 24 teams. An extra motivation for all those players who dreamed of competing with the greatest champions of their continent.
The smallest
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Thus the Comoros Islands will become the smallest territory to have ever played the tournament, a record blown to Cape Verde which had debuted in 2013. A poor country, a young national team, entered the Caf, the African confederation, in 2003 and only a few years later in Fifa, which now comes to its first important appointment. A football reality built practically from scratch, so much so that for the first training sessions the players were forced to collect the necessary material here and there. In any case, given the half miracle performed by coach Amir Abdou (49) in the qualifying phase (who arrived with one turn to spare at the end of March, when she found herself with the same points as Egypt) it would be a shame to underestimate her. Despite the fact that, on balance, Group C is challenging, with Morocco, Ghana and Gabon, against whom they will play the first match on January 10, and the non-top-level squad. A sort of branch of France, from which they obtained independence in 1975, the adopted country of many of these players who, however, at the moment, have to settle for the minor leagues.
leader
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El Fardou Ben Nabouhane, 32, Stankovic’s Red Star striker, on the other hand, has a little more experience. Almost a year ago he scored for Milan in the Europa League, he is the best foreign scorer of the Serbian club and that of his national team. He was the first of the archipelago to sign a professional contract, at the time with the French of Le Havre. In short, a beacon for others. The other certainty is the coach Abdou, in office since 2014 and capable of climbing 65 places in the FIFA ranking.
tormented
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January 12 will also be the first time in the African Cup for Gambia, the only team from the western part of the continent still absent from the event, awaited by the Mauritanian national team. Another tortuous journey towards Cameroon, started with the preliminary rounds even if, in this case, faced with a slightly more structured squad. The brilliance of the young players, combined with the experience of those who play in a European first division. Serie A included. This is the case of Omar and Ebrima Colley of Sampdoria and Spezia, Darboe of Roma and Musa Barrow of Bologna. But coach Tom Saintfiet’s fishing in Italy has reached C, with the summons of midfielder Yusupha Bobb (Piacenza) and goalkeeper Sheikh Sibi (Virtus Verona). Also for the Gambia the qualification came with a round to spare thanks to the goal of Assan Ceesay, 27-year-old forward of Zurich, against Angola. “The difference with the past is that now many of us play at a higher level – explained Musa Barrow of Bologna -, but we are also receiving a greater boost from the public and the government”. On the contrary, Covid has complicated everything. In recent days, 16 of the 28 called up tested positive for the coronavirus and the friendlies against Algeria and Syria have both failed. The beginning of the journey in group F (completed by Tunisia and Mali) is already uphill.
January 3 – 7:11 pm
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