Comoros face a 48-hour wait before knowing their fate in the African Nations Cup in Cameroon, after they blew up a big surprise in the third and final round of the group stage by winning on Tuesday against Ghana.
🟢 THE DRIBBLE!
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— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 19, 2022
This submerged team has an opportunity to appear in the round of 16 in the continental championship by obtaining one of the best 4 positions in third place in the six groups of the tournament at the end of the group stage tomorrow, Thursday.
Comoros won 3-2 over Ghana, which ended the match deprived of one of its players and exit from the tournament, which had previously crowned its title 4 times, in one of the biggest surprises of the tournament throughout its history.
The victory also confirmed the qualification of Morocco and Gabon to the round of 16 in Group C, and placed Comoros in third place with 3 points.
Cape Verde and Malawi ranked third in Groups I and II with 4 points, to advance over Comoros in the race to qualify for the next round.
This means that Comoros need the results in their favor on Wednesday and Thursday when the last round of the last 3 sets takes place in order to get one of the remaining two places.
The excitement in the current African finals increased with the victory of Comoros against Ghana yesterday, and Equatorial Guinea's victory over defending champion Algeria last Sunday, ending its unbeaten run that lasted for 35 consecutive matches.
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— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 18, 2022
Comoros Football Association President Saeed Ali Othman told reporters, "What we did is historic and colossal. We were a little more outgoing and more relaxed. We had nothing to lose, and now we have to hold on to hope because qualifying is still mathematically possible."
As for coach Amir Abdo, who has coached the Comoros national team since 2014, he said that his team continued attacking even after losing its 2-0 lead against Ghana, which played with 10 players for the last 25 minutes after captain Didi Ayew was sent off.
"That's why we made offensive changes because we wanted to win," Abdo added.
The population of the Comoros - which declared independence from France in 1975 - is just under a million.