{"id":7846,"date":"2021-12-26T17:42:59","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T17:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros"},"modified":"2021-12-26T18:21:29","modified_gmt":"2021-12-26T18:21:29","slug":"2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros","title":{"rendered":"2021 Afcon: A dream achievement for Comoros"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Few days before making their debut to Africa\u2019s most prestigious football competition, Comoros has defied all possible odds to secure what many would have deemed as an impossible pathway for the small island to next year\u2019s TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n

With a population of less than a million, Comoros are gearing themselves up to re-writing the African football history books by becoming the smallest country to ever compete in the tournament, following Cape Verde\u2019s impressive 2013 debut that saw them being eliminated in the quarter-finals by Ghana.The Coelacanths sent shockwaves across the continent when they held a more fancied Togo to a 0-0 draw, following an unforeseen 1-0 away victory in their opening rounds of qualifiers in a group that also involved Kenya as well as eventual group winners Egypt.<\/p>\n

Even though they faced an even tougher battle in the opening stages, having been drawn in a difficult Group C that boasts two previous AFCON champions in Morocco and Ghana, as well as 2012 quarter-finalists Gabon, The Coelacanths comfortably hold the underdogs’ title and will be looking at causing another major upset in Cameroon next yearHaving only officially joined CAF in 2003, the islanders are very much considered a young football nation, with the TotalEnergies AFCON set to be their first major competition.<\/p>\n

While qualification to Africa\u2019s most prestigious tournament is a remarkable first-time achievement for the Islanders, coach Amir Abdou\u2019s side is to be underestimated at one\u2019s own peril.<\/p>\n

Highly spirited players such as Switzerland based, Rafidine Abdullah as well as Faiz Selemani who scored the solitary goal against Togo that buoyed Comoros\u2019 chances of qualifying are some of the key players that will be looking at making a name for themselves in Cameroon.<\/p>\n

Abdou will also be heavily relying on his captain, Mohamed Ben Nabouhane\u2019s leadership qualities on the field to spur his side in what again looks like another impossible feat to achieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cBen,\u201d as the skipper is affectionately known, captains his side with a confidence-boosting accolade to his name, having scored the only goal in his country\u2019s first win in a competitive international match against Botswana during the preliminary AFCON qualifier stages.<\/p>\n

Comoros\u2019 first assignment on January 10 sees them taking on a highly confident Gabon, who come into the tournament with an impressive run in the qualifiers where they finished runners up to Gambia.<\/p>\n

They then face Africa\u2019s second-best side in Morocco on 14 January before concluding their Group C assignment with a clash against the Black Stars of Ghana on 18 January<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Few days before making their debut to Africa\u2019s most prestigious football competition, Comoros has defied all possible odds to secure what many would have deemed as an impossible pathway for the small island to next year\u2019s TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations. With a population of less than a million, Comoros are gearing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":7845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,17],"tags":[3575,2355,2361,3576,260],"class_list":["post-7846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-2021-afcon","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-comoros","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\n2021 Afcon: A dream achievement for Comoros - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Few days before making their debut to Africa\u2019s most prestigious football competition, Comoros has defied all possible od ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2021 Afcon: A dream achievement for Comoros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Few days before making their debut to Africa\u2019s most prestigious football competition, Comoros has defied all possible od ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-26T17:42:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-26T18:21:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2021\/12\/img-61c8b28b11205.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"625\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"412\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"2021 Afcon: A dream achievement for Comoros\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-26T17:42:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-26T18:21:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros\"},\"wordCount\":441,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2021\/12\/img-61c8b28b11205.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2021 Afcon\",\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Comoros\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/2021-afcon-a-dream-achievement-for-comoros\",\"name\":\"2021 Afcon: A dream achievement for Comoros - 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