Gambia National Scorpions kicked off their Afcon Qualifier preparatory campaign with a narrowest One nil win over the Red Devils of Congo Brazzaville on Friday 9th October 2020 in Algarve, Portugal when the two sides squared off for a friendly at Estadio De Bela Vista.
The Scorpions kicked off with much of the possession although missing a few chances before a goal less first half. Coach Tom Saintfiet brought on debutantes mixed with his regulars, a chemistry that worked for the Belgian and thus dominating the match proceedings.
The Gambia’s dominance paid upon second half resumption when striker Assan Ceesay hit the back of the post after a beautiful interchange and leading the Scorpions to tight up their slender margin and maintained the lead with decent passes and attacks to increase the scoring.
The remarkable stories of Noah Sonko, Abdoulie Sanyang, Musa Juwara, Babucarr Gaye and Sainey Njie as new entrants continued as they made their debuts for the National team on Friday and became men to watch. The five new faces attracted attention and dispossessed Congolese attacks for Gambia’s gains while Sulayman Marreh marvels the mid field.
The game ended one nil with Assan Ceesay’s lone strike separating the Scorpions from the Devils and hitting Tom Saintfiet for his 70th competitive match.
“We have a good team and we are a strong nation. I am very proud of the team”, Saintfiet said. He said the future for the Gambia is bright as “we now have too many good players and so many talents have performed for the national team. But we will have to work harder to score more goals“.
Forward Assan Ceesay writes on his Facebook timeline after scoring the only goal for the Gambia “Great Team Performance Important Win Always A Honor To Be On The Scoresheet Again”
Gambia will now play Guinea in its second friendly on Tuesday 13th October 2020 to wrap up the ten days training camp.FT Scores
