Comoros coach: Teams are wary of us now

Comoros head coach Amiredine Abdou

Saturday Oct 10, 2020. 16:00

Comoros head coach Amir Abdou says opponents are now wary of his team, and they have set a goal of qualifying for the next Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON].

Abdou, who was appointed head coach of ‘Les Coelacantes’ back in 2014, has overseen a dramatic improvement in the minnow’s form in recent years.

This includes a first-ever away win in an official match – 1-0 over hosts Togo in Lome just under a year ago – as well as a 0-0 draw at home to continental heavyweights Egypt which has contributed to Comoros sitting at the top of Group G in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers.

“This is my third qualifying campaign and we’re getting better all the time,” Abdou told FIFA’s official website.

“We got three points the first time, five the second, and now we’re aiming for qualification. We’re not going to deny it.

“I’m not saying that opposition teams are scared of us, but I do think they’re wary of us now. And as the results we got against Togo and Egypt show, we’ve got good reason to hope.”

Comoros are next scheduled to face Kenya in back-to-back qualifiers next month, with their coach explaining that a lack of household names has not prevented them from improving as a team.

“You don’t need to have amazing players,” said Abdou. “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.

“If you look at our performances, and with the exception of the 3-0 defeat to Cameroon in the qualifiers for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, we’ve always given as good as we’ve got against the teams we’ve faced.

“We’ve lost a few games but we’ve made life difficult for all of them. We play to our strengths: discipline, organisation and a fantastic team spirit.”