“Of course I’m disappointed”
Rohr’s resignation is all the more interesting because he not only built a new team of young and old, but also achieved all of the sporting goals relevant to Nigeria. The team not only qualified for the Africa Cup, but is also taking part in the qualifying finals for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in March. “Of course I’m disappointed”says Rohr, “But you won’t hear me stepping down in the direction of the association. I don’t do that.”
Comoros and Gambia there for the first time
In addition to the appearances of the top teams, at the Africa Cup, as always, a look at the – mostly dazzling – underdogs can be thrown. In addition to Gambia (2.4 million inhabitants), the Comoros archipelago (870,000 inhabitants) also qualified for the cup for the first time.
The Comoros are trained by the 49-year-old Amir Abdou, who was born in France and who took over the team in 2014 and put it together from scratch. Abdou, who also trains the Mauritanian club team Nouadhibou FC “on the side”, looked around Europe for players with Comorian roots and actually found what he was looking for – even if only in the second and third division of France.
However, the team developed such a solidarity and fighting spirit that it was able to prevail in the qualifying games for the cup against greats like Kenya and Togo.
Gambia with 16 corona cases
It is questionable whether Gambia can play a major role in the Cup under its Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet. Corona infections have paralyzed 16 players in the 25-man squad in the past few days, and a test match against Algeria scheduled for the beginning of January had to be canceled due to a lack of players. At least its opening game against Mauritania on January 12th, Gambia will have to play with a real rump team.
Status: 04.01.2022, 1:24 p.m.