After two years in South Sudan, Italian Stefano Cusin (54) was appointed coach of the Comoros on October 2, taking over from French-Moroccan Younes Zerdouk. After a long journey between Moroni and Tuscany, where he lives, the Transalpine agreed to answer Sport News Africa's questions.
Stefano Cusin, how do you feel about signing a two-year contract with the Comoros?
I'm very happy to have been chosen by the Comoros. Things happened very quickly. My contract with South Sudan came to an end on September 30. I'd been told that the Comoros were interested in me, but I knew that there were other coaches in the same situation. I was called on Thursday September 28 and asked to come to Moroni with my agent. They sent us the plane tickets, and we arrived in Moroni on Saturday morning. There was a first meeting the same day, discussions continued on Sunday and I signed on Monday.
Did you have any other offers?
I've had offers from clubs, notably Qatar. First of all, my initial wish was to stay in South Sudan, which wanted me to stay. But I also thought about the fact that working conditions are not easy there, in the sense that the state provides very little support. The president of the federation works very hard, he's very involved, but without government help, it's difficult. Sometimes we couldn't bring in players from abroad because we didn't have the money to pay for the trip.
Despite this, we achieved results, never playing in Juba, winning in Congo (2-1) in the qualifiers for the 2023 AFCON, and in Kenya in a friendly (1-0) on September 12. I had an extraordinary experience with this team, made up of players with an excellent mentality and a committed president. But I had the feeling that it would be difficult for us to progress with so few resources. So I wanted to continue working with a team, preferably a French-speaking one (Cusin speaks perfect French, editor's note).
The Comoros are a step above...
Yes. You can see that the resources are greater, that it's better organized.I'm aware that the Comoros is a small country, and that the state helps according to its possibilities .I had an excellent exchange with Saïd Ali Athouman, the president of the federation, who is calm, intelligent and ensures that the selection works in good conditions. The team missed out on qualification for the AFCON in Côte d'Ivoire, so we'll be concentrating first on the friendly match against Cape Verde in France on October 16.
Wouldn't you prefer to play two friendlies?
No. We're going to have time to get to know each other, exchange ideas and train well, with just one match.
What are the objectives set by the federation?
First of all, we want to finish well in our qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup. We know it's going to be tough, with Ghana, Mali, Madagascar, Chad and the Central African Republic, but we're going to do our best. Our main objective is to qualify for the AFCON in Morocco in 2025. It's a very interesting project.
What do you know about your new team?
I'd been following their performance at the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon with great interest. I really liked the way they played and their enthusiasm. I've also watched their last ten matches. There's quality and good players. We'll have to think about gradually integrating young players. First of all, I'm going to concentrate on the three matches we'll be playing between now and the end of the year. My job will also be to try and convince binational players to join us. And I'll be spending some time in the Comoros, following the local league. But first we're going to focus on the upcoming events...
