On the other end of the line, the voice of Peter Maker, the captain of the South Sudan football team, betrays a feeling of pride. At the end of the fourth day of qualifying matches for the African Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024, the selection, 163rd in the FIFA rankings, can still believe in a historic qualification. It would be the first time that the team from the independent country since 2011 would reach the final stage of the continental competition. The Bright Stars can afford to maintain this mad hope thanks to the unexpected success obtained in Brazzaville on March 23 against Congo (2-1), which Peter Maker without hesitation calls "the greatest achievement of the national team, obtained against a much better opponent than us”. It was only the second victory away from South Sudan.
The Congolese Red Devils got their revenge four days later in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with a goal scored in the final seconds (1-0). But with three points, South Sudan is still mathematically in contention for qualification, in a group that also includes Mali and Gambia. “With one more point, our position would be a bit more favorable. But to still be in the race two days from the end is already fantastic, especially when you know how we prepared for these two matches. This proves that with few means, we manage to have almost unexpected results, ”insists Italian coach Stefano Cusin, in office since October 2021 after having notably exercised in Congo, Libya and South Africa.
The South Sudanese federation, for lack of the necessary money, was indeed forced to give up summoning several players playing in Europe and Australia, because it was not able to pay the plane tickets. The body, whose budget is essentially based on FIFA allocations (7.4 million euros over the period 2023-2026) and a few private sponsors, has requested State assistance to charter a plane to travel between Juba and Brazzaville. "But to reach Dar es Salaam - because we cannot accommodate our opponents in Juba, where the stadium is under construction - we took airliners in a scattered order, in small groups, which complicated our preparation" , continues Stefano Cusin.
"A squad without any stars"
These difficulties have not weakened the determination of the players, whether they play in the local championship or abroad. "We know the federation doesn't have a lot of money. But in the end, all this only strengthens our motivation. We manage to do things well with a squad without any stars,” said Peter Maker, who is waiting to find a club after the end of his contract at Zesco United in Zambia.
The Italian coach, who has settled in Juba, regularly calls on players playing in the local championship, a hybrid competition where professionals rarely paid more than 250 euros per month rub shoulders with semi-professionals who divide their time between the football on the one hand, a salaried job or studies on the other. “The country lacks sports facilities. That's why the best players seek to leave, either in higher level African championships, such as Sudan, Uganda or Kenya, or in Europe, Australia or the United States, "says Stefano Cusin, whose the workforce is scattered over some fifteen countries, including the most unexpected, such as Brunei, Iran and Latvia.
"The selection allows players born abroad to discover their country of origin", adds the technician, citing the example of Agwa Okuot Obiech, born in Norway and striker of Brattvag (Division 3 of the Scandinavian country), who spent three days in Juba during the gathering of the selection before leaving for Brazzaville.
The progress of South Sudanese football is not limited to the A selection, since the under-20s, with a large majority of locals, disputed in February and March the AFCON of the category in Egypt, where they reached the quarters in the final against Gambia (0-5 defeat), an unfortunate future finalist against Senegal. The under-17s were due to participate in the CAN in Algeria, from April 29 to May 19. But a few days before the start of the competition, MRI tests carried out on the players showed that some of them were older than their official documents indicated. The selection was ultimately excluded from the tournament.
