Comoros Islands have appointed Younes Zerdouk as their new head coach following the departure of Amir Abdou, the country’s federation have confirmed.

The Moroccan-French national Zerdouk had been assistant to Abdou for four-and-a-half years and the Comoros have chosen continuity in their technical team to take them forward.

“I am very happy to be the coach of the Cœlacanthes,” Zerdouk said. “I am especially proud of these people, who mean a lot to me. I always felt like part of a family once in the Comoros. The people adopted me. I am proud to be part of this adventure.”

Comoros beat the odds – and Ghana – to reach the second round of the recent Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, but narrowly lost 2-1 to the hosts.

Zerdouk will be assisted by Djamel Bakar, who has previously worked at Ligue 1 sides Monaco and Montpellier.

He will hope to build on their rapid improvement in recent years with the qualifiers for the 2023 finals set to start in June.

Comoros are set to face Ethiopia in a friendly clash later this month.