Six-year winless Comoros desperate to end bad form

KAMPALA. Les Coelecantes, as the Comoros national football team are called, touched down in the capital Moroni from Paris on Tuesday, two days before the Uganda Cranes arrive in the island nation today.
Uganda and the Indian Ocean nation, which is located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, off the eastern coast of Africa, face off at Mitsamiouli Stadium in Group D’s second match of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Coach Micho Sredojevic’s Cranes arrive for their maiden away game of the campaign with a record to forget having won just two first away qualifiers out of 21 attempts.
But Cranes, who are still looking to return to Africa’s biggest showpiece since 1978, and whose most recent outing was a 1-0 friendly victory in Nigeria, will be buoyed by Comoros’ woeful record. Formed in 1979, the young footballing nation joined Caf in 2003 before becoming a Fifa member two years later.
They have endured some of the worst results since, winning just one match - 2-1 away in Seychelles - in the last six years.
Comoros have since played 18 matches in Afcon, Chan and World Cup qualifiers, plus friendlies – losing 12 and drawing the rest. Four of those defeats have come at home. Despite being poor travelers themselves, the Cranes will look at Les Coelecantes stats and feel encouraged.
Little wonder Orlando Pirates new man, Yasser Mugerwa, who bullishly reckons that “my signing means I’m moving to my destination soon and that’s Europe,” thinks Cranes will win.
“We shall get the maximum points because we are a better side,” he confidently told Daily Monitor yesterday. Fair enough. It’s the 186th Fifa-ranked hosts against 74th placed visitors.
Yet that is the rot Les Coelecantes will be desperate to check. Comoros should be encouraged by the four home draws in their last six home games.
Over 90 per cent of coach Amir Abdu’s men ply their trade in France’s lower division sides and should command some level of professionalism.

Comoros’ last 19 games
20/10/09: Seychelles 1 – 2 Comoros
(Friendly)
22/10/09: Swaziland 3 – 0 Comoros
05/09/10: Zambia 4 – 0 Comoros (AfconQ)
09/10/10: Comoros 0 – 1 Mozambique
28/03/11: Libya 3 – 0 Comoros
05/06/11: Comoros 1 – 1 Libya
04/08/11: Seychelles 0 – 0 Comoros
(Friendly)
06/08/11: Comoros 2 – 2 Maldives
09/08/11: Mauritius 2 – 0 Comoros
04/09/11: Comoros 1 – 2 Zambia
(AfconQ)
08/10/11: Mozambique 3 – 0 Comoros
11/11/11: Comoros 0 – 1 Mozambique
(WCQ)
15/11/11: Mozambique 4 – 1 Comoros
05/03/14: Burkina Faso 1 – 1 Comoros
(Friendly)
18/05/14: Kenya 1 – 0 Comoros
(AfconQ)
30/05/14: Comoros 1 – 1 Kenya
13/06/15: Burkina Faso 2 – 0 Comoros
21/06/15: Zimbabwe 2 – 0 Comoros
(ChanQ)
04/07/15: Comoros 0 – 0 Zimbabwe