Gambia’s Wafu dream over

The Gambia have been eliminated from the Wafu Under 20 Championships currently underway in Delta State, Nigeria.The Darlings Scorpions lost 0-1 to Ghana in their final group match last night before crashing out as one of the worst losers in the sub-regional youth tournament.

Dominic Adiyiah’s 16th minute strike was enough for the Ghanaians to complete a hat-trick win over their Gambia counterparts and eventually claimed the summit of Group B on nine points.

Senegal finished as group’s runners up after a goalless draw against Guinea. A high score win against the already-qualifier Ghana and a goalless draw in the group’s other match between Senegal and Guinea would have seen the Gambia through to the quarter-final stages.

However, the high hopes of realizing this dream started to fade right from the kick-off when the Ghanaians, who despite resting some key players, started off on a bright note. Goalkeeper Christopher Allen was tested in the 7th minute by Paul Addo, whose range strike was parried for a corner.

The Ghanaian went ahead to create some scoring chances but the Gambians responded their threat when versatile Saihou Gassama’s shot bounced off the woodwork in the 10th minutes.

The Ghanaians, who were looking for a point to avoid Group A leaders Nigeria in the quarter-final stage, later took the lead in the 16th minute when Dominic Adiyiah connected Evans Quao’s weighted cross to mark the goal that separated the two sides throughout the regulation.

Gambia’s coach Pa Suwareh Faye attributed the defeat, which eventually confirmed the Gambia’s early exit from the two-week event, to lack of commitment from the players. “After a slow start in the competition, we had tried to adjust ourselves as we progressed, but the reactions from the players were not satisfactory at all.

We could have won this game [against Ghana] if we had given it our best. But the commitment was lacking,” visibly disappointed Faye told Observer Sports in a post-match interview.