Comoros emergency keeper: Alhadhur’s fear of conceding 10 goals at the Africa Cup of Nations

Africa Cup of 16 Round of 16 vs Cameroon

After a corona outbreak with seven players who tested positive, the Comoros national team played against favorite Cameroon in the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday – and narrowly failed 2-1. In the leading role: defender Chaker Alhadhur, who was not used in his regular position this time, but showed his skills in his 28th international match as a substitute between the posts. The 30-year-old professional, who was born in Nantes and is under contract with the French second division club AC Ajaccio, spoke in detail in an interview about his intensive impressions and his job as a flash in the pan.

“Goalkeeping is a different profession, it’s complicated,” Alhadhur said “L’Equipe”. First-choice goalkeeper Salim Ben Boina was unavailable, as were his substitutes Moyadh Ousseni and Ali Ahamada, so the right footer had to step in. In view of the Corona cases also among the goalkeepers, the team’s coaching team said: “Guys, think about who could play as a goalkeeper.” On Saturday evening, training took place without a keeper. A substitute goalkeeper “didn’t really” come out of the crowd.

“But everyone thought we would get a goalkeeper back. On Sunday, the day before the game, we held a meeting and there the assistant coach (Younes Zerdouk; ed. ed.) said: ‘You all consulted and decided on Chaker.’ But we hadn’t consulted at all! Suddenly he just told me that. I got it wrong!”

Alhadhur revealed how he felt: “I was under a bit of pressure, asking myself questions… A situation like this is completely new.” gave me a few instructions, but he knew that I couldn’t implement them.” The defender, who is only 1.72 meters tall and has played 40 times for FC Nantes and SM, confessed that he had never played in goal before in his life Caen played in Ligue 1 – as a full-back.

According to him, the coaches were “looking for a fifth defender”. Because: “The coaches didn’t care about the aerial game, whether I dived or not.” The day of the game held some turbulence before kick-off. The hope of being able to use the substitute keeper Ahamada, who has meanwhile tested negative again, lived until shortly before the game against Cameroon.

“I was stunned! But at 5 p.m. the day before, the CAF (African Football Association; ed.) pulled out a new rule for us: if you are positive, there is a five-day ban. Tunisia had been given an exemption to play faster with former Covid cases, so we hoped we could get it too. We told ourselves that the CAF would never let us play without a goalkeeper. In the eyes of the world, that’s bullshit. But whatever,” Alhadhur described the scene.

Comoros in goalkeeper distress: Ahamada wanted to play, but was not allowed – Alhadhur helped

Ahamada arrived in time for the game, which should reassure the intended emergency keeper Alhadhur. “I thought they would do everything they could, we would get a special permit at the last minute and I wouldn’t play.” During the warm-up, “no one” knew who would ultimately be between the posts. Alhadhur rehearsed in his usual jersey and went onto the pitch with the field players. He still hoped “that after the warm-up they would say to me: ‘Chaker, that’s okay, we solved the problem.’ But Ali told me it was no longer possible.”

At that moment I thought it was a nightmare, that nothing worse could happen to me, I would concede ten goals.

There was now no turning back for the improvised goalkeeper. “Yes, all emotions have mixed. I was given a blue jersey with the number 16 and ‘Alhadhur’ printed on it, and gloves. When the players came out I was told to keep my original number which was 3. So I got blue stripes to improvise the 3.” He then looked at his gloves and thought: “What are you doing? You’re not a goalkeeper, it’s a round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations.” When the whistle sounded, he said he was in an “incredible” and “insane” atmosphere. The early dismissal of captain Nadjim Abdou after seven minutes proved to be a shock for him. “At that moment I thought it was a nightmare, that nothing worse could happen to me, I would concede ten goals. And then things turned out very differently, we just played too well.”

The Comoros (squad value: 12.2 million euros) held out well and the game was open for a long time, which left Alhadhur not without pride. For Cameroon, the favorites and winners of preliminary round group A (squad value: 139 million euros), Lyon professional Karl Toko Ekambi (29th) and Vincent Aboubakar (70th) scored. Youssouf M’Changama shortened late (81′). “I was happy because I kept my team alive for a long time,” said Alhadhur. “In the dressing room we all congratulated each other. We knew we walked out with our heads held high.”

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