NAIROBI:
Sudan entered the African Nations Championships (CHAN) as rank outsiders — its home league is almost nonexistent in a country ripped apart by civil war, and the squad had only a few days training together.
Yet the Falcons of Jediane have defied the odds to reach the semi-finals of CHAN in which teams can only select from players in their national league competitions.
Sudan has a domestic league, but only just.
Sudan had not held a meaningful domestic league competition since the outbreak of conflict in 2023 between the country’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has killed tens of thousands.
The country’s two most successful clubs, Al Hilal and Al Merrikh, have been playing some 5,000 kilometres to the west in the Mauritanian league.
Following a lull in the fighting earlier this year, they returned and joined six other clubs for a month-long Sudan Elite league.
The mini-league was organised by African football’s governing body, CAF, to enable Sudan select clubs for the continental championships next season. It also created a CHAN squad.
That squad had only four days to train before their arrival at CHAN, with Ghanaian coach James Kwesi Appiah openly fearing his players could not be competitive with so little practice.
But the side found a way through, drawing twice and whipping Nigeria 4-0 to top their group.
Their quarter-final against Algeria also ended level but Sudan won 4-2 on penalties.
Sudan have matched their previous best in 2011 when they hosted the tournament and reached the last four.
Midfielder Abdel Raouf attributes the team’s success to the technical staff led by Appiah, the former Ghana national team coach.
“The secret is simple: teamwork,” Raouf, who has scored two goals, told CAFOnline.
“Everyone in this squad is working towards one goal — to lift Sudan high on the African stage.”
Goalkeeper Mohamed Abooja, who saved two spot-kicks against Algeria, praised Appiah.
“The way he gives instructions, the way he motivates us,” said Abooja. “He is always so calm, and that helps us a lot”
Under Appiah’s guidance, Sudan have also made the cut for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, and are lying third in their 2026 World Cup qualifying group, one point off leaders DR Congo.
Their quarter-final win has not only been celebrated in Sudan but across the region, coming after the trio of hosts Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya all failed to progress to the next round.
“It was a sad night for the east African teams who were not lucky to survive in the quarter-finals,” said Kenyan sports journalist Elias Makori.
“But Sudan have saved the face (of) east Africans by becoming the last team standing.”
Sudan face Madagascar, the quarter-final conquerors of Kenya, in the first semi-final in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Tuesday.
Morocco meet Senegal in the second semi-final at Kampala’s Mandela Stadium. The final will be played at Kasarani stadium in Nairobi on August 30.