Omar Sise’s darling U-20 junior Scorpions have resumed preparation for the return leg away to Morocco with a test match against first division side Real De Banjul on Tuesday night at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.
The hard-fought first test game ended in a 1-1 draw and the lads are expected to have one or two more test matches before travelling out to Morocco.
The team will play the Atlas Lions of Morocco on the 12th June in Rabat after a narrow 1-0 win in Banjul last month. A win or draw will see the U-20 of The Gambia advance to the 3rd and final round of the qualifiers for the African Youth Championship in Zambia early next year.
In an Observer Sports interview shortly after the game, Omar Sise, the coach of the U-20 side promised to work on the team’s faults, notably the finishing department, which he admitted is a big problem in Gambian football.
“Definitely it was a good test for the team because we were pushed to the edge and we conceded a goal at a bad time. However, it is good that we created chances and equalized,” he said when asked whether it was a good test for the team.
With outstanding performance displayed by the lads in the first leg before the home fans, Sise is quite upbeat that the team can advance to the final round. “We are preparing to go there [Rabat] either to beat them or draw with them. We are having our next test game against Steve Biko on Saturday immediately after the Gambia-South Africa match.”
On whether he was monitoring his opponent’s preparation ahead of the game, a confident-looking Sise replied in the negative. “I am not interested. I am only interested in working on my team and may God help us,” he told Observer Sports.
by Alieu Ceesay