The Gambia national team captain Pa Modou Jagne (Nda) has expressed optimism on the team’s readiness to go for glory in their subsequent outings following the team’s sterling performance and win over Congo at the weekend. Nda was speaking to the federation’s medium and notes strongly that with collective efforts, there shouldn’t be any room for complacency. He described the Friday friendly to Congo as a great start for a new beginning with a mix of new young faces. “The camp is very important because this is one of the few opportunities that national players, coaches and staff come together as a team, interact and be familiar with one another both socially and technically and also be familiar with the coaches’ philosophy subsequent to the competitions. So I am very happy with the boys and the staff”.
Jagne further highlighted that everybody in the camp is optimistic and at ease despite the difficult circumstances of Covid-19 pandemic that requires sticking to health and preventive guidelines. “With a great hotel and good pitch, everyone is in good spirit and focused. We are training hard to try to defend this jersey and our country”, he said.
The scorpion’s skipper added that the coming of new young debutants was something that the team was looking forward to for a long time. “Their addition to the team will bring in so many positives and lead the team to a good direction”.
Reacting to the one nil victory over Congo Brazzaville, The Scorpions Captain expressed delight with the results especially a win over a team that is better than the Gambia in the world rankings. He however noted that “there is still so much work to do. I still believe we have to improve technically and be clinical with our chances and work harder. I know that a lot of our people especially at home have shown us their happiness in our performance but for me, as a captain of this team, I will only be satisfied if we qualify for the AFCON 2022, Cameroon for the first time. That is my mission as a leader and I believe we are heading towards that direction”, he emphasized.
Pa Modou continued that the players have had great recovery sessions and are now fully focused on the next game against Guinea Conakry describing the previous game (win over Congo) as history. He said the subsequent game against Guinea would be a “difficult and stubbor opponent” because they will want to revenge having been defeated in their previous encounter. “We will try to improve from the last game and give a better impression. That is the essence of these friendly matches, to improve on our weaknesses and strengths as a team. Guinea is standing better than us in the world ranking but it is 11/11 and the 90 minutes that we both share” he concluded.
The Gambia plays Guinea in its second friendly on Tuesday 13th October 2020 at Algarve to wrap up its ten days training camp in Portugal.