World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

COMOROS

A veritablefairytalefor thesmall
islandnation,whosecoloniallinks
withFrance mean they have a large
migrantcommunityin Marseille,
whichiswherethecoachand
bulkofhisplayershailfrom.
Comorosare oneofthe newest
membersofworldfootball.They
onlyjoinedFIFA in 2 005 andfirst
enteredqualificationfortheCup of
NationsandWorldCup in 2 010.
Theydidn’twintheirfirst
competitiveinternationaluntil
2016 – at their 21 stattempt–
whentheybeat Botswana1- 0
athomeinthe 2 01 7 Cupof
Nationspreliminaries.
Inthe five yearssince,their
progressisremarkableandthey
reachedtheirfirstAFCONfinals
after a qualifyingcampaignthat
sawthemunbeatenuntil theirlast
gameinEgypt,bywhichtimethey
hadalreadysecuredtheirberth.

KEYPLAYER

ElFardouMohamed Ben
Nabouhane, 32,knownsimply
as“Ben”is theComoros’all-time
topscorer andhasaratioofmore
thana goalevery othergame
sincejoining RedStarBelgradein
2018 fromGreekclubOlympiakos.

THECOACH

AmirAbdoucoachedamateur
footballinFrancewhenhewas
askedtoserve as assistantcoach,
onlyforhisproposed bosstopull
out,thrustinghimintothehotseat,
wherehe hasbeensince 2014.

GABON

Thereis oftena senseGabon’s

“Pantheres”areaone-manoutfit,

capableofproducingresults when

Pierre-EmerickAubameyangis

available,butbereft of anychance

onthe frequentoccasionsheis

notplayingfor thenationalteam.

Hisfather, Pierre,wascaptainof

Gabonwhentheyfirst qualifiedfor

thefinalsin 1994 andthefamily

dynastyloomslargeoverfootball

inthe centralAfricancountry,

whoseoilwealth hasseenthem

hostthetournamenttwice.

Gabon’s bestreturnwasa

quarter-finalplacein 1996 and

againasco-hostsin 2012 , when

Aubameyangmissedthe decisive

penaltyina shootoutthatsaw

themeliminatedbyMali.

Theyqualifiedforthesefinals

asrunners-uptoTheGambia,but

aheadofDRCongoandAngola,

whoboth have strongteams.

KEYPLAYER

The 27 -year-oldDenis Bouanga

oftenfillsinfor Aubameyangasthe

leadattackerand hasgotseveral

keygoalsforGabon.Hewillenjoy

thebreakfromLigue1 wherehe

hasfeaturedregularlyfor struggling

Saint-Etiennethisseason.

THECOACH

PatriceNeveuhasbeena regular

onthe Africancircuitwithprevious

spellsincharge of thenational

teams of Niger, Guinea,DRCongo

andMauritaniabefore takingup

theGabonpostin March 2019.

GHANA

TheBlackStarslastwonthe

AFCONin 1982 and eachpassing

editionwithoutsuccesshasbeen

thecauseofgrowingfrustration,

particularlyasthere have been

a largenumberofclosemisses.

Theyarefour-timeAfrican

champions,a recordbetteredonly

byEgypt(seven)andCameroon

(five),butthe 4 0-yearwaitwillbe

a burdenhangingovertheheads

ofthe currentcropofyoungsters.

Ghanagotasfar as thesemis

sixtimesina rowbetween 2008

and 20 17,reachingthe finaltwice,

butatthelasttournamentinEgypt

theyexitedearlyinthelast 1 6.

Thesuddenemergenceof

severalpotentialinternationalstars

holdsouthopethatGhanacan

makeabreakthrough,althoughthis

tournamentmightcometoosoon.

KEYPLAYER

ThomasParteyisthe engineof

theBlackStars,whoisheading

forathird successive Cupof

Nationsfinalsappearance,and

willbe hopingto make more of

animpactwiththeteamthistime

roundasthe 28-year-oldhas

theabilitytodrivetheteamon.

THECOACH

MilovanRajevacanswered

anSOSfromGhanaduring the

WorldCupqualifiersinSeptember,

returningtothe jobwherethe

67-year-oldSerbianmadehis

namebyguidingthemtothe

2010 WorldCupquarter-finals.

MOROCCO

Moroccohavearrived at thelast

twoAFCONfinalsheavilyfancied

togohomewiththetitle,butin

2017 wentoutinthequarter-

finalsand twoyearslatersuffered

a embarrassingeliminationatthe

handsoftinyBenininthelast 1 6.

Again they will be fancied,even

iftheirsidehasbeen givena huge

overhaulinthe last twoyearsby

anever-tinkeringcoach.

VahidHalilhodzicexcludedHakim

ZiyechandNoussairMazraoui,the

duoheaccusedoffeigninginjury to

avoidplayinga friendly, butoffered

opportunitytothe likesofImran

Louza andAdamMasina(both

Watford),Aymen Barkok(Eintracht

Frankfurt)andtheformerBelgium

U21 internationalRyanMmaee.

Moroccohaveonlyoncebefore

wontheCup of Nations– in1 976

whenitwashosted in Ethiopia.

KEYPLAYER

Spanish-bornAchrafHakimi, now

23,debutedforMoroccoat 17 and

hasbeena regularoverthelast

fiveyears,whilealsocementing

hisreputationinclubfootball,as

evidenced by the€60mfee PSG

paidtosignhimfromInterinJuly.

THECOACH

FormerYugoslaviastrikerVahid

HalilhodziccoachedIvoryCoast

atthe 2 01 0 AFCONandAlgeria

atthe 2 01 3 finals,butdidpoorly

atboth andthistournamentis a

chancefor theirritable 69 -year-

oldtosetthatrecordstraight.

P R E V IE W

2021 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

GROUP C

Fairy tale...Comoroswillplay

attheirfirstAFCONfinals

Upset...Morocco

sufferedashockexit

toBeninin 2 019

Coach...

AmirAbdou

Front-line...

Aubameyang

andBouanga

Midfieldengine...

ThomasPartey

Wing-back...

AchrafHakimi

redit:Instagram@bouanga_ 20