Matarr M’Boge said his team has drawn positives from Tuesday’s controversial 1-0 defeat to Morocco and are ready to basttle the Ngorongoro Heroes of Tanzania in their second group match at the Total Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in Mauritania tomorrow.
The Young Scorpions narrowly lost to The Lions of the Atlas by a controversial penalty and will entertain a Tanzania side that is still reeling from their 4-0 demolition at the hands of Ghana’s Black Satellites.
Speaking in a pre-match press conference ahead of the 4pm kickoff, the Young Scorpions gaffer said the spirits are high, noting that they eye all six points starting with tomorrow’s encounter and their final group match against the Ghanaians.
“Because of the work that the team has done to reach here, people are not going to take Gambia lightly anymore. For a team like Morocco to come up with a different game plan to limit us and contain us is a positive in the sense that we know we have the qualities. So now we have to show those qualities and strength to the games,” he stated, noting that the Tanzania match is going to be a tough game despite their heavy loss.
“We’ve been in that position before and we know that a wounded lion is a very dangerous lion. So that’s what we are coming up against and we are doing everything we can to make sure that the boys are ready to come up against a top Tanzania team.”
M’Boge further stated that the refereeing in the first match also made the difference in terms of the psychology of his boys. Thus, he challenged the African football authorities to appoint quality officials, especially at such a level.
“Being here, the officials that we have all across the board, we have top officials here and it should be. So, I don’t understand why we should have referees who cannot match that quality. It’s a problem in competitions like this because we don’t need to have young upcoming referees to come in here and make costly mistakes,” he lamented.
“At this level, we should have the best because all the other officials that you see, that you interact with, the general coordinator, media designates are top officials. It should be the same on the pitch and let’s hope in the next games their officiating will improve and that will also contribute to a better game of football for us.”
For his part, goalkeeper Lamin Saidy alluded that the camp is positive and focused to secure the maximum points. “We had a similar experience and even worse during the qualifications in Senegal but the never give up attitude has also inspired us to bounce back and do it again. That is our task, to collect the three valid points against Tanzania,” he emphasised.
