The draw has been made for the 2021 African Cup of Nations to be hosted in Cameroon. Following a strong end to its qualifying campaign and back-t-back away defeats of Guinea Conakry and Morocco in international friendlies in June, many Gambians believe the Scorpions’ chances of a maiden appearance at the finals of the continental showpiece event would finally arrive in Cameroon.
However, before participating in the qualification proper, Tom Saintfiet’s charges have the big matter of first negotiating a two-legged preliminary playoffs with little known Djibouti in October. A win over two legs will see the Scorpions battle for one of the two slots in a group containing Angola, D.R. Congo and Gabon.
In this series of Road to AFCON 2021: Gambians Access Scorpions’ Chances; we spoke to former national team player and ex-Gambia Coach Alhaji Sarr who has given the team a 75% chance of securing a group stage spot. Speaking in an exclusive interview www.gambiaff.org, the current coach of first division side B.K. Milan was however quick to warn them against complacency.
“I think we have 75% chance of beating Djibouti because for me I don’t know much about Djibouti but the material (players) I see with The Gambia, is unlike before when we used to have two to three professionals in the team but now if you look at most of the players are playing in Europe and with the experience they gather in their clubs I think we can qualify over Djibouti,” he said.
“As people said we have a chance because we are playing against Djibouti, but we don’t need to underrate them because they are also going to prepare very well like us and I think we have to give them that respect. Both teams are going to the playoffs so we don’t have to say we are better than them.”
Ensuring that the Scorpions have a smooth campaign in the qualifiers against teams that The Gambia has a realistic chance of beating in the qualifiers, Sarr urged the Government of The Gambia to finally take ownership of the National Team by giving them all the necessary tools required to undertake the task. “I think first of all, government must intervene and try to motivate the team. Let them do what they have to do because the GFF [Gambia Football Federation] cannot do it alone so I think the government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports have to come in. I don’t know whether we can have a test match before the game, like if we can have one home test match, the crowd will come out to support the team and that can motivate the team. If we play away we can only watch the team on TV but to motivate the team I think we need a test match home before we begin the competition so that people will have confidence in the team which will motivate the players. Away match is good but we need to see the team play home and get the support so that if they’re playing they will know that they have to play and fight for the country,” he affirmed.
“I think the coach and his technical staff are doing their best just to advise them to respect our opponents. The other advice I have is to the government and the players; let government come in and give 100% support to the team and also the players to know that they are playing for their country, they are putting on our national flag so whatever they have in their hearts they must make sure that the team qualifies. I’m appealing to them [the players]; let them make sure that we qualify to the Africa Cup of Nations but first we have to beat Djibouti to get to the group stages then to Cameroon 2021.”