Veteran sports journalist Pape Saine has told Observer Sports that the Saturday qualifier game between The Gambia U-20 and their Guinean equivalents was a good encounter and a thrilling match “but unfortunately our boys were over anxious and missed several dead chances.”
He however expressed optimism that there is still chance of qualifying to Zambia 2017.
Going down history lane, the veteran sports journalist, who doubles as the Honorary Life President of the Sports Journalists’ Association of The Gambia (SJAG), said the Saturday encounter was the third between The Gambia U-20 and Guinean U-20, while at the senior level, the two nations have played over 23 times, Guinea winning 11 times and Gambia winning 7 times.
As to what should be done ahead of the return leg, Saine said the team should improve and play better, especially in the attacking side. “Maybe lack of experience and/or cohesion [resulted to] the several missed chances, but I am hopeful they can improve a lot during the return leg,” he told Observer Sports.
Lamin Kaba Bajo, the President of GFF was quite optimistic. He commended the boys for playing a good game even though there were missed chances. He urged the technical staff to go back to the training ground and work on the weak areas. Regarding the motivation from the GFF especially in terms of timely payment of match allowances, Bajo said there was no problem regarding that.
by Alieu Ceesay