Gambia hold Liberia

The Gambia Scorpions got off their campaign to the 2010 World Cup and African Cup of Nations on a bright note with a 1-1 away draw to Liberia in a Group 6 clash at the Samuel Doe Stadium in Monrovia, last evening.

Belgian-based midfielder Mustapha Jarju (Toubabo) opened the scoring for the Scorpions as early as the fifteenth minute, but the home side grabbed the vital equaliser in the final fifteen minute after converting a free-kick.

The Scorpions, under the aegis of Belgian Paul Put, could have grabbed the maximum points if they had capitalised on the string of scoring chances they created.

Scorpions’ next game will see them host Terenga Lions of Senegal on Sunday, June 8, at the Independence stadium, Bakau.

Senegal narrowly beat Algeria 1-0 in Dakar on Saturday with Abdoulaye Faye, who plays for Newcastle United, scoring the only goal in the 80th minute.

The joint qualifier will decide on candidates for the first ever World Cup to be held on African soil. The qualification process will also decide the 15 teams who will join host Angola to take part at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

There are 48 teams involved in the first round which is a 12 group, round-robin, dual qualification process with only five places available for African teams at the World Cup.

The group winners and eight best runners up will qualify through to a further group stage where the teams will then be split in to five groups of four.

The five group winners will book a place at the South Africa finals, while the group winners and eleven best losers will make up the 16-team Nations Cup tournament in Angola.