Scorpions Coach Tom Saintfiet has remarked that Gambia will fancy its opportunities when the country makes its African Cup of Nations debut in Cameroon next year.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) yesterday held the draw for the 24-team tournament with the Belgian gaffer to lead his charges in their opening match against WAFU Zone A rivals Mauritania on Wednesday 12th January at the Limbe Stadium. The Gambia, that is will be participating in the tournament for the very first time since the formation of association football in the country seven decades ago, will then face Mali before wrapping up its Group F campaign against the Carthage Eagles on January 20.
The Belgian, speaking to the Gambia Football Federation’s Media, expressed his satisfaction with yesterday’s draw. “I think we can be very happy with the draw. If you’d asked me before the draw what is your wish list or what is your dream draw, I think this draw comes close to what I wanted,” Saintfiet, who is unarguably Gambia’s most successful coach told www.gambiaff.org.
“In AFCON there are no easy opponents. We can never underestimate any opponent. All the countries that qualified are strong but naturally with Tunisia I think we have a good opponent as well as Mali and Mauritania who are our neighbouring countries. We could’ve had, maybe on paper, stronger opponents in Pot 2 like Egypt, Ghana, or Ivory Coast but it’s a competitive group. We will have opportunities, [but] as a coach, naturally we’re very happy with the draw yesterday.”
However, the Belgian hastened to caution that we shouldn’t ignore the fact that the team is making its first AFCON appearance and thus the objective is going there to learn and experience it and then see how far we can reach.
With the Scorpions’ group to be based in Limbe, 311 kilometers from the capital Yaoundé, Saintfiet and Team Manager Ousman Drammeh both flew to the seaside city in the South-West Region of Cameroon immediately after the draw to get firsthand information on the facilities ahead of the championship.
“We went to visit the Stadium, where we will play our three matches, the hotels and training infrastructure and we will be ready to prepare; everything looks fine. Ousman and I are checking everything and we will be ready. We have a lot of information and we can start the real preparations finally,” he concluded.