Ex-Scorpion, Aziz Corr Nyang, has stated that he is hopeful that Gambian football would change for the better with “best Coach Sang Ndong” at the helm of affairs for the National Team.
Aziz Corr Jnr, 31, who won the 2002 Allsenskan (Swedish premier league title) with Djurgarden and played for Lindingo, Assyriska FF and Brommapojkarna, said everyone should close ranks for the development of the national game. He was speaking in a rare interview with the Daily Observer this week.
“The only way forward for Gambian football is to come together and play as a team because from 2000 up to 2010 Gambian football was rising and we had a very good Under-17 and Under-20 [teams] but now we don’t have any,” the former Gambia Ports Authority and ex-Under-17 mesmeric forward said in the interview, which would be published in full this Friday.
“But I strongly feel like things will change again because they have the best Coach in Sang Ndong. The GFF [Gambia Football Federation] should not also forget the legends of the Scorpions who [had] given their all for the nation.”
Aziz Corr had an on and off stint with the National Team but when available and on form, he was arguably the best player for the Scorpions. He will forever be remembered as the scorer of that decisive late goal at Dakar’s Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in 2008 in a 1-1 draw against the Teranga Lions.
Though the goal wasn’t enough to secure Gambia a place in the final round of the joint 2010 Afcon and World Cup qualifiers, having missed out to Mozambique on goal difference, the 86th minute strike ensured the Scorpions didn’t suffer a defeat away to Senegal in more than four decades.
Aziz Corr was handed his National Team debut by Sang Ndong and returned the favour by banging in the first two goals in that famous 6-0 walloping of Lesotho at Banjul’s Independence Stadium in the 2004 Afcon qualifiers. The Scorpions failed to qualify having drawn at home to Senegal in their next game and lost 3-1 and 1-0 away in Dakar and Maseru respectively. The Scorpions finished second in the three-team group.
Meanwhile, with Sang Ndong expected to unveil his final squad for the two-legged Afcon qualifier against Mauritania at midday tomorrow, Friday, Aziz Corr has expressed optimism that the team can get a positive result in Nouakchott.
by Alieu Ceesay