Players
of Gambia’s senior national team; Scorpions have called on Gambian fans to come
out in their thousands to show support to the team as they take on the
Democratic Republic of Congo in their second fixtures of the Africa Cup of
Nations qualifiers at the Independence stadium, this evening.
The
national team players made this plea to the fans during an interview at the
Airport shortly after their arrival from Luanda, Angola.
They
defeated Angola 3-1 away (Luanda) in their first Afcon qualifiers group D
encounter to end the long awaited away win in a competitive tournament for over
three decades.
Skipper,
Omar Colley said it is always a good feeling to win in an away game and come
back home, noting that though everyone was tired but still expressed hope to
prepare more for today’s encounter against DR Congo
Talking
about today’s encounter, the Sampdoria defender said “we all know how the
difficult group we are in and of course winning our first game away is a good
start and also very important for the team and the country”
According
to him, they need the support of the fans as usual, saying that without them,
they’re nothing. He added that if they collected six points in two games means
that they are 40% of being in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament proper.
For
his part, Bubacarr Sanneh, alias Timber also expressed delights for collecting
their first-ever away win for over three decades in a competitive match, noting
that they try to compose themselves maturely to come from 1-0 down to win 3-1
in their first Afcon qualifiers game. “We have come back home to prepare more
against Congo today because it is a two different game. Though Congo has a very
good team but we can still upset them in Banjul,” said the Göztepe defender.
Ebrima Sohna said it’s a very good start for
them to take the first three points away, noting that all of them as players
were so confident in this encounter looking at the caliber of players the
Gambia has now.
“I’ve
been in the national team for so long and honestly with this kind of players, I
feel we can win any team,” he said, adding that even though they won their
first game, they shouldn’t feel so big and proud of today’s encounter.
Sohna,
who is one of the oldest players in the team also joined others in calling on
all fans to come and support the team, while also calling on the fans to be
patient, expressing believed that they can make it to the next Afcon
tournament.
Assan Ceesay said that the first thing they
did was to believe in themselves that they can do it, which he said was the
reason why they came from behind to win their very important away match in this
tournament.
When
asked about how important his brace was during the encounter, the FC Zurich
striker said, it is all due to good motivations, noting that winning a team
like Angola who was in the Afcon tournament means that it’s a big boost for the
team.
Bubacarr “Steve” Trawally said that they are
happy to have showed themselves playing good football in Luanda, and most
importantly to top the group D after first game
“We
can still and continue making the Gambian fans happy because the quality is in
the team but still again we will not be over joy only by winning the first
game. We will prepare more for the subsequent games especially today against
DR. Congo.
According
to UAE Ajman striker, they are in one of the toughest group in which they were
terms as underdogs but now winning the first game, all teams will come
preparing more. He also called on fans to come to the stadium not as spectators
but to come and show real support to the team.
Coach
Tom Saintfiet said this is a victory for the country, the boys and the fans at
large, adding that everybody especially the GFF did everything that was
necessary to get the good result.
According
to the Belgian Coach, though it is going to be a very difficult task for them
but winning their first game is a good start which no take can ever take it
away from them.
He
finally called on the fans to come all out to support the Scorpions as they are
aiming to book their first-ever Afcon berth tournament.