Gambia U-20 Coach Omar Sise said they do not count much on their opponents’ strategy, but rather they care about their own strategy and game plan.
Sise was speaking at the mix zone of the Independence Stadium after the Young Scorpions secured a solid 2-0 defeat of Sierra Leone’s Shooting Stars to complete a 4-0 aggregate whitewash in the first round of the 2017 African U-17 Championship qualifiers on Saturday.
Pa Omar Babou opened the scorings for The Gambia after 35 minutes when he stabbed home a rebound after the keeper had saved Pa Omar Jobe’s initial shot. Jobe got his own goal in the 68th minute when he headed in another shot initially parried away by the visitor’s keeper.
The Sierra Leoneans had to thank their goalkeeper for not conceding more than two goals in Banjul but the Young Scorpions wouldn’t care much having secured a place in the penultimate round of the qualifiers where they will face Morocco in another double-legged affair. The first leg would be played in Banjul on May 19 with the decider to be held in Rabat on June 6.
Speaking further at the post-match press conference, Sise said he is very much proud of his players for showing a respectable performance in both games against the Shooting Stars.
“As far as the game is concerned, though we won but it was not a very good game for me, because in the beginning of the game we were out of our line, but it happens sometimes,” he said.
For his part, the Sierra Leone U-20 Coach Charlie Wright said they are trying to rebuild their team as they were affected by the Ebola outbreak in their country in the past two years. He said the Ebola disease kept them apart as there were no leagues or proper tournaments in their country, adding that it was very difficult to bring some players together back to partake in this U-20 qualifier. He added that over 95% of the players are not mature and did not have much competition, unlike the Gambian side that played friendly matches internationally.
“We believe that it is not the end for us as the technical people for the boys; we will still maintain and keep them back so that they will graduate and expose them as we are now free from Ebola,” he said.
by Arfang MS Camara