South Sudan men’s football National Team coach Stefano Cusin opines that football in the country is not just a game but a very important tool to bring people together.Speaking ahead of their opening match in the Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers slated for Saturday in Dakar where they will take on The Gambia, the Italian tactician noted that during the preliminary round against Djibouti he saw people come out in large numbers, and united for that matter.”In South Sudan, football is more than a game. It is the thing that brings people together in this new country of many contradictions and divisions. Football is a real added value that goes beyond the game. During the (preliminary) qualifier against Djibouti, it was the first time that I saw people come out with the national flag – united in a spontaneous way. Football can really help change things in this country. It’s hard to explain. In this new country, football can really help,” the coach said as quoted on CAFonline.Day two training in Senegal.The Brightstars are preparing to face The Gambia in the first game of the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers slated for 4th June 2022,#SSBrightstars pic.twitter.com/dS3WGuvJJH— South Sudan Football Association (@ssfa_com) June 1, 2022 Concerning the opening match ahead of them, Cusin says that they have laid down their objectives but they are not setting big ambitious goals considering the young team they have.2.30 Malawi 2.95 Ethiopia 3.60However, he believes that they should tackle a match at a time as they build their young team, starting with the game against the Scorpions of Gambia whom he says they will use to gauge themselves.”We have a young team, we are in the process of building, so there is no point in setting big ambitious goals. On the contrary, we have to go game by game and try to grow. And the match against Gambia, is a good barometer in the sense that we will know more about our level. We will face Gambia and also Mali and Congo who are all big names in African football,” he added.
