The Gambia National U-20 Team, the Young Scorpions, Monday arrived in Rabat for the return leg of the African Youth Championship qualifier against hosts Morocco.
The team comprises 20 players, six technical staff members, as well as three other officials. The delegation is headed by Abdoulie Star Jallow, the first Vice President of The Gambia Football Federation, while Pa Suwareh Fye, President of The Gambia Football Coaches Association is the Team Manager.
Omar Sise’s charges will go into Sunday’s game as favourites following their 1-0 win from the first leg in Banjul, more than two weeks ago, courtesy of striker Pa Omar Jobe’s first half header.
The Young Scorpions had concluded their local preparations on Saturday with a comprehensive 4-0 defeat of Steve Biko in a friendly at the Independence Stadium.
The team, who also knocked out Sierra Leone 4-0 on aggregate in the preliminaries.
Bun Sanneh gave the Young Scorpions an early lead when he stabbed home into an empty net following some horrendous defending by Biko. Moments later, Pa Omar Jobe hit a delightful volley into the roof of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Just before the break, it was the turn of Captain Ablie Jalllow to score for a 3-0 halftime lead. The diminutive forward dinked his way past several challenges before he toe-poked home a delightful onetime finish, making scoring look so simple. Right back Hamidou Bojang added a fourth after the break to complete the comprehensive win.
Leading 1-0 from the first leg, The Gambia only needs to avoid defeat to be assured of a place in the next stage of the qualifiers, where they would meet either Ivory Coast or Guinea Conakry. If the Young Scorpions score an away goal in Rabat, the hosts would therefore need a win with two clear goals to advance to the next round. Kickoff is at 8:45pm Gambian time.
The team had its first training session in Rabat yesterday and speaking to Observer Sports shortly before taking to the field, Omar Sise the U-20 Coach renewed his call for the prayers of everyone, while reaffirming his commitment to bringing smiles to the faces of the Gambian people.
The 2017 African Youth Championship would be played in Zambia, who have automatically qualified as hosts, and is seeking its third appearance in the eight-team biannual football competition after earlier appearances in 2007 and 2011.
by Baboucarr Camara
in Rabat, Morocco
