Gambia Captain Omar Colley has sent a scoring message to the Atlas Lions that his National Team is called the Scorpions and as such they are prepared to play the big boys, even an Atlas Lion and on their day, they can sting any opponent.
Colley, 26, was a maverick in defense for Tom Saintfiet’s charges as they secured an unlikely 1-0 defeat of African Cup of Nations bound Guinea Conakry in an international friendly played at the Moroccan economic city of Marrakech last Friday. The Sampdoria forward is expected to start again tomorrow as the team wraps up its 11-day training camp in Morocco with a second and final friendly against the hosts at the Stade de Marrakech Stadium with kickoff time adjusted to 4:30pm Gambian time.
“The Morocco game is going to be tougher because we’re going to play at the big Stadium where you will have a lot of their fans supporting them but everyone is ready for the test because Morocco has been to the World Cup and they are one of the best teams in Africa and we want to play against the best teams. So we are still going there as the underdogs but remember we are still the Scorpions and we are always going to sting,” Colley told www.gambiaff.org.
“It’s been a real honour to come back and play for the National Team. It is really exciting playing against Guinea Conakry, which we all know are one of the best teams in Africa, and winning that game 1-0 is a big motivation for us the players and the country at large.”
The Lamin born defender, who played for Wallidan and Real de Banjul in The Gambia before moving to Finland, Sweden, Belgium and then Italy where he signed for the Stadio Luigi Ferraris outfit ahead of the 2018/19 season is today the country’s biggest football export together with Musa Barrow of Atalanta Bergamo.
Even at his young age, he is one of the most experienced players in the team and one of its leaders as well, only behind main captain Pa Modou Jagne in that aspect. Thus, he has been with the National Team long enough to tell. And speaking further, he said the Gambian public didn’t show faith in the current crop of players but noted they are now maturing and reaping the rewards of their hard work.
“The win against Guinea Conakry is a big motivation for everyone; the players, fans and the country at large because nobody had given us a chance regarding this team and now they can see the outcome of this team. We are young and motivated and are developing and ready for the next qualification campaign,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ebrima Colley and Muhammed Mbye are both out of the game having returned home for club engagements and family reasons respectively while Lamin Jallow would no longer be coming. Mbye played alongside Colley against the Sylli National in defense and his position could be filled by Bubacarr Sanneh of Anderlecht and the coach may opt for an entire fresh backline with the latter partnering the experienced Momodou Futty Danso.
However, Moussa Kamara, whose parents are from Gunjur in Kombo South but born in France and plays for Toulouse FC, has joined his teammates on Saturday and is ready to play. Saul Jobarteh could also make a shock return having recovered from the ankle injury he picked up against Guinea after training at the same pace with the team on Monday. The Scorpions will train for the final time today at 5:30pm local time.