The Baby Scorpions today lost their WAFU A U-17 Cup of Nations opener 4-2 to the hosts in a match played at Thies’ Stade Lat Dior.
Aboulie Bojang’s charges were overwhelmed by a lethal Senegalese side that took a 3-0 lead after 34 minutes but the Gambians pulled a goal back before the break when midfielder Mahmud Bayo’s low drive shot from 30 yards found the back of the net. However, any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Senegal added a fourth moments after the restart.
Bojang made a couple of substitutions with Abdoulie Baldeh one of them and he made an immediate impact by winning and scoring a penalty to make it 4-2. The Baby Scorpions could have salvaged a point had Abdoulie Baldeh and Adama Bojang were clinical in front of goal later in the second half.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Bojang blamed fatigue and lack of concentration for the defeat but was quick to add that they will go back to training and prepare better for the Mauritania game on Sunday. “Actually is not a bad game; look at the goals we could’ve avoided them. We made mistakes and Senegal punished us,” he asserted.
“Yesterday we had a hectic day because we went do our MRI test; we left the hotel by 4pm and arrived at the hospital at 6 o’clock, which was our appointment time but unfortunately we met Mali and Sierra Leone there so we started the MRI at 10:21pm and finished by 4am. We arrived at the hotel very late. When you have a game you need to rest a lot and focus on the game but after having our dinner by the time we settled it was around 5am. So we had little time to recover, you can see the tiredness in the boys.”
He further stated that his team could have performed better if they played to instructions. He said he knows nothing about their opponents on Sunday but promised to work out a plan for the game against Mauritania. The Baby Scorpions now win game on Sunday against Mauritania to have any chance of prolonging their stay in the tournament.
Meanwhile after the game, His Excellency Hadrameh Sidibeh, the Gambia’s Ambassador to Senegal visited the team to show support and solidarity.
