Gambia Advance to Africa’s U-17 Youth Tournament

The Gambia had to overcome a two-goal deficit from the first leg to beat Ghana 2-0 at home in the Africa under- 17 qualifiers to advance for the tournament proper in Algiers 2009.

Gambia grabbed the opener in the 58th minute of the second half through Omar Colley when the Ghanaian goal keeper failed to clear the ball neatly from the danger zone resulting in a swift tapping of the ball to the back of his net by Omar Colley of Wallidan F.C.

A few minutes later the Ghanaian failed to deal with Abdou Njie’s vicious in swinging free kick from the right flank and Matarr Jobe smartly headed the ball home from close range to seal the qualification for Gambia in the 60th minute of the game.

It will be recalled that the first leg was played in Ghana on the 9th of November 2009 and The Gambia lost by 3-1 to Ghana. Thus Gambia needed only two goals to qualify with the away goal rule which our darling scorpions achieved successfully on Saturday 22nd at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

In exclusive interview with Pointsports, the head coach Paul Put, who was, rendering technical support to the U-17 coach, said that he was happy with the qualification but he was the less happy with performance displayed by our boys; specifically in the first half. Mr. Put went further to say that the boys were afraid to play in the first half but Mr. Put was full of praise for the defensive line. He continued to add that, more work needs to be done in order to better prepare the lads for Algiers.

Mr Put, who is revered as a master tactician, was quick to warn that it’s time to work and not to sleep. He further attached significant need for concentration on the part of the under-17 team but people should not forget about the senior and U-20 teams respectively.