One drop of unity within an ocean of differences

Stefano Cusin, an Italian coach with a global profile, is behind this result. Born in Montreal from Italian parents, he was raised in France. After a playing career in France, Switzerland and Guadeloupe, in the 1990s he embarked on his cosmopolitan journey as a coach. This experience took him to work in more than ten countries across five continents, including Italian clubs such as Arezzo and Montevarchi.

"We become coaches to dream", he said after qualifying, a dream that, at first, with the Comoros’ lack of resources, infrastructure and facilities, seemed destined to vanish almost immediately.

October 2023: the Comorian national team’s first training camp, held in France. No one shows up. The players are on strike. With an official match against Cape Verde just days away, the risk of a penalty in the standings is real. Within 48 hours, Cusin and his staff managed to summon enough young players of Comorian nationality scattered throughout France, some of whom were almost unknown.

From that moment on, the national team began to take shape around the idea of unity rather than boundaries. Cusin combined his passion and expertise, drawing on the Comorian diaspora in Europe and abroad: players who grew up in different countries, trained in different leagues, but united by a common identity. "If we had only played with players born and raised in the Comoros, we would never have reached the Africa Cup of Nations," admitted the coach. "But now we’ve done it".

Bringing together such diverse personalities from around the world to represent three small islands might have seemed an impossible task. Instead, it succeeded thanks to an inclusive vision: “I grew up in a working-class neighborhood among Italians, Spaniards, Moroccans and Tunisians.” Cusin explained, "multiculturalism taught me that there are no real differences between people. Solidarity and exchange have shaped my worldview".