U-20 Coach defends decision of dropping key players

Lamin Sarr, head coach of the Gambia national Under-20 team, has defended his decision of dropping two key players from his provisional squad for the Caf U-20 Youth Championship in South Africa.

Two weeks ago, Sarr made two surprise exclusions from his team, such as Kemo Fatty of Seaview and Samger’s inspirational forward Buba Jallow, who were tipped to shine in South Africa, a decision challenged by some fans.

Speaking to Pointsport at the team’s training camp in Seaview Hotel recently, Sarr has moved to distance himself from any claim he was bias in the team’s selection saying: “I have no hatred for any player neither do I have any bad intention for any member of my own team".

“My role and responsibility is to help develop these youngsters and assist them in their career. Any player that is unfortunate to be dropped should ask himself ‘why I am not been able to survive the omission and not anyone else?’.

“Football is like that sometimes you perform better and at times you drop deep in form but that does not necessary mean that you are not a good player.”

Sarr, who is set to name his final 21-man squad ahead of the continental youth showpiece, cited the case of one of his key weapons in midfielder Mamut Saine whom he dropped during the U-20’s match against Ivory Coast in Banjul amid poor run of form.

“It happened to Mamut Saine when he dropped in form and eventually had to be axed from the team during the qualifiers against Ivory Coast in Banjul before making a remarkable recovery to regain his place in the starting line-up, which goes to show that no player has a permanent role in the team,” said Sarr, who led the Darling Scorpions to the Africa Youth Championship at the expense of Ivory Coast in the last day of battle of survival in Abidjan with a 2-nil win on aggregate.