When Gambia’s Greatest Footballer of All Time, Biri Biri, missed a crucial penalty for the Scorpions in a 1983 Zone II Championship in Mauritania, few, at the time, would’ve thought it would make the headlines almost 33 years later.
Well that story has come under the spotlight this week after the legendary forward claimed that he took the kick because all of his teammates were afraid to put themselves forward.
“We have been beating Mauritania numerous times and in the few occasions they defeated us, I remember I took and lost a crucial penalty in Nouakchott because all my teammates refused to take it. Even the captain, Saihou Sarr, was afraid but as the eldest player I decided to take it,” Biri told Observer Light recently.
But veteran sports journalist and acclaimed football commentator, Tijan Masanneh Ceesay, shed further light on that episode. TMC, as he I fondly called, reported on that particular game in Nouakchott. He recently authored a book on Gambian football capturing events between 1975 and 1985.
That particular game was well documented in Tijan’s book and reacting to Biri’s claims this week, the retired journalist disclosed that the match was played between The Gambia and Guinea Bissau on July 15 1983 and not Mauritania as Biri claimed. He said victory in that game would’ve put us in the knockout stages of the competition.
“At no one time was anyone scared to take it, Bai Malleh [Wadda] was vying for the leading goal scorer so that would not make sense, Malleh was one of the best penalty takers at the time. The late Saul Samba even took the ball from the spot begging Saihou Sarr for Biri not to take it because he was horrible from the spot,” Ceesay countered.
Ceesay’s narration brought back memories of another crucial miss PK for Gambia at the 2005 U-17 World Cup in Peru. With The Gambia losing 2-0 to the Netherlands and starring elimination in the face, the Baby Scorpions were awarded a lifeline with a penalty. Modou Ceesay was the first to the ball ahead of the regular taker Ousman Jallow and he missed, thereby, costing us a place in the knockout stages.
Tijan Masanneh Ceesay further commented on the Biri miss: “Another conspiracy theory that floated amongst the players was Saihou who was Player/Coach and not the captain as Biri alluded to wanted to deny Malleh the leading goal scorer.”