Rodez. “We made the people proud”

EEven today, I don’t realize it, it’s weird. There is a lot of emotion. “ Having just returned from his trip to Africa during the international break, Akim Abdallah struggled to hide his joy yesterday morning, near the Vabre prefabricated locker room. And we can easily understand it, since he participated last Friday, while his partners were leaving the Coupe de France in Angoulême (N2), in the qualification of the Comoros for the African Cup of Nations! Which had only happened once, in 2021, for this small archipelago of 850,000 inhabitants in the north of Madagascar. A feat that the Ruthenian piston will not stop enjoying anytime soon. “ I feel a lot of pride. We’ve been working for years. Players come and go, but now, for three years, it has become structuredexplains the Ruthenian. It’s something we all built together, it’s deserved. “

Considering the short history of the Comoros at the Can, this qualification, with no defeat on the clock in the qualifying phase, obtained in Gambia (1-2) is symbolic for an entire nation: “There has been a lot, a lot of recognition (coming directly from the country). We made our families, the people and ourselves proud.”

“I told them that it wasn’t necessarily the right time”

For Akim Abdallah, born in Troyes one day in August 1997, the adventure with the East African archipelago took a long time to begin. “When I arrived in Grenoble, I had already received a lot of offers from the Comoros, I told them that it was not necessarily the right time. It was really from the second year there that I decided to represent my country and today, I am proud of it.shares the left piston of Rodez Aveyron football. He continues: “This is where my family is from, my mother, so it’s very important to me.”

So, being able to wear the colors of his mother nation during the Can, between the end of December 2025 and January 2026, would be a real honor for the one who now regularly occupies the status of holder in the selection: “I will give myself all the means to be able to participate, that’s for sure! As an African player, the Can is a competition that everyone wants to play in, so it was in the back of my mind. Today , I may have the opportunity to participate, so I will really go for it.”

If Akim Abdallah is still a Piton player next winter, he could become the fifth Ruthenian to take part in the African Cup during his time at Raf, after Laurent Zahui (Ivory Coast), Alseny Camara (Guinea), Johann Obiang (Gabon) and Lionel Mpasi (DR Congo). And the first, therefore, under the colors of the Coelacanths of the Comoros!