Profile: Armed Forces goal machine Buba Sama

The village of Dobong in the Central River Region is the home village of the Gambia Armed Forces goal machine Buba Sama.

The 19-year-old former Gambia national U-17 team attacker, who has also had successful stint with his childhood club Blue boys in Churchill’s Town, has already transformed himself into becoming a prominent figure in the country’s youth football.

The youngster, who once trained with Samger Academy when he was a young lad, has proven to be one of the deadly goal scorers with the military boys, where he continued to play an important role for the GFA first division league giants.

One of the biggest highlights of the gentleman’s career came in the 2008/2009 GFA division one league season when Sama guided the military outfit to the GFA league title in his first full season with the club two years ago.

He scored nine goals that season two points behind the leading scorer Assan Jatta, who netted 11 to grab the golden boot award.

Born to Gambian parents Filijay Sama and Musukuta Jatta in 1992, the young prodigy Sama had his first taste of international football when he travelled with the Gambia national U-17 team to Dakar, Senegal, to take part in an international friendly match between The Gambia and neighbours Senegal in 2009.

He has struggled to break his way into the U-17’s first team and was a substitute during that friendly match in Dakar.

Sama made his presence felt when he came on as a substitute in Dakar, where he netted in his debut for the Baby Scorpions on their way to a hard fought 3-2 defeat to the Senegalese youth team.

His desire to excel and reach the highest football standard is the driving force behind his success in goal-scoring and he has succeeded in maintaining his place in the U-17 team that underwent a three-week training camp in the UK in the buildup to the 2009 U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria.

But Sama struggled in vein to make a mark during the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria where The Gambia endured a disappointing campaign after failing to advance from the group stage, although the Darling Scorpions managed to snatch a 2-2 draw with Colombia in their final group match.

Sama, who was sent off against Iran during the U-17 disappointing campaign in Nigeria, is one of the key members of the current U-20 team that took part in an international peace football tournament held in Freetown, Sierra Leone, recently.

He continued his impressive scoring record with the U-20 team and helped the Darling Scorpions to reach the semi-final of the Freetown peace tournament, where he netted four times.

The offensive minded Armed Forces goal hunter could be an integral part of the current U-20 team’s success as the team under the leadership of Lamin Sarr has intensified preparations ahead of the CAF U-20 youth tournament in Tripoli, Libya, due to commence in two months’ time.