Comoros 2021-22 Home (BEN.M #21) Jersey/Shirt
£34.99
This is a Macron Comoros national team 2021-22 home jersey featuring the name and number of star striker El Fardou Ben Nabouhane.
Comoros were traditionally one of the weakest members of CAF, with their lack of success being largely due to their small size, inadequate football infrastructure and most importantly having only competed in limited Indian Ocean Games matches since their debut in 1979 until their Arab Nations Cup qualifiers appearance in 2006. Although Comoros became an independent state in 1975, they did not join FIFA until 2005, which led to their first World Cup qualifiers in 2007, where they lost 10-2 on aggregate to Madagascar. Comoros did not win any matches between 2009-2016, however they were quickly improving and had a few impressive results against some of Africa’s top nations. Their rise was led by Amir Abdou, a French coach of Comorian descent who had little experience but developed a plan that saw the national team comprise a squad of mostly French-based players from the Comorian diaspora. This resulted in one of the most unlikely rises in world football, with Comoros qualifying for the 2021 African Cup Nations after finishing above Kenya & Togo in their qualification group. They entered AFCON 2021 as massive underdogs in a difficult group, but pulled off arguably the biggest upset in tournament history, defeating Ghana 3-2 to progress to the Round of 16, where they troubled hosts Cameroon in a 2-1 loss.
El Fardou Ben Nabouhane, commonly known as just Ben, has played a crucial role in the development of Comorian football, having been called-up to the national team by Amir Abdou in his first match as coach in 2014. Ben was born in Mayotte and later moved to Réunion, where he was developed in the youth academy of top local club JS Saint-Pierroise. In 2006 he moved to France to join Le Havre and made his Ligue 2 debut for the club in 2008. After Le Havre were promoted, he had limited playing time and then joined Ligue 2 side Vannes OC in 2010, performing strongly in his 3 seasons with the club. In 2013, Ben was signed by Greek Super League club Veria and later had spells with fellow Greek clubs Levadiakos Panionios & Olympiacos before singing with Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade in 2018. In Serbia, Ben has become one of the leading strikers in the league, having scored 63 goals in 120 matches for Red Star as of January 2022. At international level, Ben is the all-time leading scorer for the Comoros national team with 16 goals in 33 matches and scored the opening goal in their famous victory against Ghana at AFCON 2021.