The Scorpions held their training session at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa this evening ahead of tomorrow’s 4pm kickoff in the final AFCON qualifier away to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Head Coach Tom Saintfiet led his charges onto the artificial turf of the Congolese national stadium at around about 5pm local time, 4pm in Gambia, and they trained on the pitch that will host the Monday encounter for about an hour before returning to their base at the Pullman Kinshasa Grand Hotel, just a 10-minute drive from the 125,000-seater capacity Stadium. The match will however be played behind closed doors, and opened to only an invited few.
Earlier in the day, the Belgian disclosed that Captain forward Ablie Jallow, 22, Sulayman Marreh, 25, (card accumulation), Captain Pa Modou Jagne, ankle, and 24-year-old Noah Sonko Sundberg, hamstring, are all out of the dead rubber encounter. However, despite the absence of the quartet, who all started Thursdays’ historic match at Bakau’s Independence Stadium, the gaffer has a strong squad of 21 players to choose from.
Saintfiet hinted that some players could make their debut in the encounter with the Leopards. He, however, hastened to add that he will set up a strong team to win the match for the moral of the team, to improve our current 157th position on the FIFA World Rankings, and to possibly win the group as well as to send a strong message to our future opponents that The Gambia is now a force to be reckoned with.
The Gambia is on 10 points, leveled with Gabon, who play away to Angola at the same time. Having both secured qualification to the 2022 AFCON in Cameroon, the two sides will each be keen to finish top of the group, thus the importance the Scorpions attach to the encounter with the Leopards. The last time the two sides met, The Gambia twice came from behind to drew 2-2 in Banjul but if not for some controversial refereeing, Saintfiet’s team could’ve secured the three points after Omar Colley’s goal was ruled out for a non-existent off-site when the scores were leveled at 1-1.
The Gambian delegation, including the Minister of Youth & Sports and the President of The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) landed in Kinshasa last evening after which they underwent a mandatory Covid19 test at the Airport. Another test was conducted at the team hotel this morning. The delegation will return to Banjul tomorrow evening, after the match, the chartered flight carrying the team expected is to land at the Banjul International Airport at around 5am local time on Tuesday morning.
Reporting by Baboucarr Camara and pictures by Omar Touray, both in Kinshasa, The Congo
