Gambia handed tough U-17 draw

The Gambia Under 17 team were handed arguably the toughest draw of the two groups for next month's African Under 17  Championship in Algeria.

The Baby Scorpions, who were the champions in 2005,  have been pooled in Group A  alongside hosts Algeria, familiar opponents Guinea and 2003 winners Cameroon in a ceremony held yesterday in the North African country. Niger, who bundled out Ivory Coast to earn their first qualification, face a relatively easy task in Group B after they were paired in the same section as fellow newcomers Malawi, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe.

The four semi-finalists from the Algeria tournament, which is fixed between March 19 to April 3, will automatically qualify for the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be played in Nigeria later in the same year. The Gambian team, who beat Guinea 2-0 in a friendly match played last month in Banjul, will coincidentally open their group account with the same side on March 19, in Zeralda. The Baby Scorpion will also take on  former champion Cameroon on March 22, before wrapping off their group campaign against hosts Algeria on March 25.

Reacting to the draw, the President of the Gambia Football Association, Seedy Kinteh, played down the notion that the Baby Scorpions, who will leave Banjul today for a one-month training camp in Egypt, are in a tough group. Kinteh is optimistic that the Egypt training camp will better equip the Gambian team for the task ahead.

“The draw is fair. Our first match is against Guinea and they are not new to us. We only need to win our  first game against Guinea and avoid defeat in remaining two group matches,” he said.

Group A:
Gambia, Guinea, Algeria and Cameroon
Group B:
Niger, Walawi, Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso