Corona, no keeper and red
The fairy tale of the Comoros ends dramatically
01/24/2022 10:29 p.m
Hosts Cameroon and surprise team Gambia advance to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations. With Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting from FC Bayern, the “irresistible lions” narrowly won against the courageous Cup newcomer Comoros. The Comoros had to do without a trained goalkeeper.
With a full-back as goalkeeper in the biggest game in the country’s history, the Comoros football fairy tale came to a sad end due to an unfortunate corona outbreak. In the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations against hosts Cameroon, the team from the Indian Ocean archipelago had, as expected, no chance in their first knockout game in the history of the continental championship without their two infected goalkeepers with 1: 2 (0: 1).
In addition to the “irresistible lions” around Bayern Munich striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Gambia also made it into the quarter-finals. The team led by fourth division player Baboucarr Gaye from regional division club RW Koblenz beat Guinea with Bundesliga professional Ilaix Moriba from runner-up RB Leipzig 1-0 (0-0). Last Sunday, Burkina Faso and Tunisia were the first teams to qualify for the top eight.
In Cameroon, sympathy for the Comoros’ corona concerns even exceeded interest in the local team. The guests, who were shocked by the Corona outbreak in their ranks last Saturday, still hoped for a short-term assignment of a trained goalkeeper on the day of the match after a negative test by their keeper Ali Ahamada, but the tournament organizers rejected the underdog’s urgent application for a special permit a few hours before kick-off of the round of 16 with reference to the prescribed period of five days between a positive test result and a free test. In the Comoros, a total of twelve players and delegation members, including the two goalkeepers and coach Amir Abdou, tested positive for the virus.
Without Abdou and their two keepers, but with defender Chaker Alhadhur from French second division club AC Ajaccio between the posts and Frenchman Younes Zerdouk as coach on the bench, the Comoros sold dearly. Despite being outnumbered early on after being sent off, the underdogs didn’t let themselves be shown, only conceded two goals – and also made a respectable exit with their consolation goal by Youssouf M’Changama (81st).