Comoros will head to the Africa Cup of Nations for just the second time.
Doha, Qatar: Adel Anzimati has no doubt that things will work out on the pitch. He also has a well-thought out back-up plan in place just in case they don’t.
Of the 400-plus players taking part at the ongoing FIFA Arab Cup, the Comoros goalkeeper has one of the most unique back stories.
Born in France to a Comoran father, he didn’t grow up surrounded by the game. In fact he didn’t grow up with the game at all. Now 24, remarkably it wasn’t until he was 16 that Anzimati first played the game, as he explains to FIFA.
“People are certainly pretty shocked when they hear that I didn’t start playing football until my late teens. Before I was doing just games and other things. So it’s not long since I started but after two seasons, I was on the bench in the professional league in France.
“It all started with a friend taking me to training because a team needed a goalkeeper, I didn’t really want to do it but my friend kind of made me. When I played I realised I was pretty good, the coach spoke to me and that’s how it all started, in the city of Poitiers in France.”
To say that the shot-stopper’s rise has been a dramatic one is something of an understatement. Barely two years after he was buried in music, friends, games and other things that teens usually are, he found himself on the books of French second division side Quevilly-Rouen.
After a brief stint with fellow Ligue 2 outfit FC Martigues, he was snapped up by six-time Armenian Cup winners Ararat Yerevan, that after a maiden national team call-up came in mid-2023. Anzimati is keenly aware that he is quite literally living the dream.
“For me, this tournament was incredible because I’m a young player just starting my career so to play against these kinds of players is so good,” he said.
“I know my parents are very happy to see me in the competition and to play for my country because it’s such a beautiful thing to play for your national team.”
What makes Anzimati’s story even more remarkable is that he already has his post-playing career mapped out. That involved completed a three-year nursing degree, making him almost certainly the first nursing-qualified keeper in the history of the Arab Cup.
As much as the national custodian is looking forward to helping save lives in the future, for now he’s more concerned with protecting the Comoros goal.
The tiny volcanic archipelago, buffeted between Mozambique and Madagascar in the waters of the Indian Ocean has a population of less than one million and has just wrapped up a maiden Arab Cup participation.
While the records will show that they ended with three defeats, they were all narrow ones, and against some giants of African and Asian football in the form of FIFA World Cup 2026-bound pair Morocco and Saudi Arabia.
That gives Anzimati belief that the nation is on the right course.
“It’s incredible, we had to come through the qualifiers where we scored two late goals. Then I think we played well here so we can leave with a lot of experience, having played against some very strong teams.
“We have a lot of young players and I think we were one of the youngest teams at the tournament and there are many lessons we can take.”
Later this month, Comoros will head to the Africa Cup of Nations for just the second time. Having topped a qualifying group that contained Tunisia, Gambia and Madagascar, there is very much the sense that Comoros is a nation on the rise.
As Anzimati told FIFA after the nation’s Arab Cup exit, regional, continental and perhaps even global tournaments can expect to see Comoros’ name featuring prominently going forward.
“In three weeks we will play the opening match against the host nation Morocco at the Cup of Nations where some huge, huge players will also feature,” he said.
“I think we have a very, very beautiful generation coming right now. A lot of young players that are in League 1 or League 2 in France and the top division in Portugal so it won’t be long until we see a real rise in Comoros football.”
If that is to be the case then Anzimati’s medical career could well be put on hold for quite a while longer.
