Morocco Coach Mark Wotte has tipped The Gambia to qualify for the finals of the African Youth Championship in Zambia following their qualification to the third round of the qualifiers on Sunday.
The Gambians lost 1-0 on the night for a 1-1 aggregate draw but triumphed 7-6 on a post-match penalty shootout to book a date with Guinea Conakry in the next round.
Speaking in an Observer Sports interview after the game, Wotte, who admitted that his goal was scored from an off sight position hailed the commitment of the Gambians.
“If this team can beat Morocco, I think they can beat Guinea as well because they played for each other. I think they have every opportunity to qualify,” Wotte told the Observer.
“The good thing about this Gambian side is that they are really a team; they played together, they know each other and they are friends who come from the same city. It’s really a team that knows each other very well. I thought that they played a little bit afraid in the first half but after we scored they came out of their selves to score us but I think they have some excellent players who I think within six to twelve months two or three of them can play in the national team.”
Wotte also hailed the performance of his players for handing The Gambia a first defeat in four qualifying games, noting that they have reacted well to the first leg defeat in Banjul.
“I think we played an excellent game. There was one team that deserved to win and we scored a goal in the second half and we could’ve scored a second goal but we’re very sorry for the boys that we didn’t qualify but I can be proud of my players. They made a good reaction to the game in Banjul and played better but it’s always cruel to lose on penalties and even though nobody wants to lose on penalties there is only one team that can win,” he said.
“We will continue with this generation of players because there are very good players that can play for the first team within one or two years. I think God was a little bit helpful to The Gambian than us.”
by Baboucarr Camara
in Rabat, Morocco