The
Gambia U-20 women’s national team was Saturday eliminated by Burkina Faso in
the FIFA U-20 Women’s Cup qualifiers after a goalless score line in the second
leg encounter played at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.
The
Burkinabe girls won the Gambia 3-2 in Ouagadougou two weeks ago, during the
first leg of the qualifiers.
The
Gambia’s young women’s scorpions needed to win the encounter in order to secure
their ticket into the next phase of the qualifiers but the young Stallions
girls defense line stayed very resolute to prevent Gambia from scoring.
Burkina
Faso progressed into the next stage of the qualifiers after winning Gambia 3-2
on aggregate.
In
an interview, Foday Bah head coach of Gambia U-20 Women’s team said he very
disappointed with the result, noting that they wanted to qualify but, this is
football and Gambia U-20 team is at a developmental process.
“Football
is all about win and lose, fortunately we were in Ouagadougou and scored two
vital scores but here in Banjul we were unfortunate to a goal which is very
bad,” he said.
According
to him, most of his first team players are injured, sick and suspended, which
he said, forced them to bring center-back players into the middle of the field.
He added that this resulted his players not being able to hold the balls as
expected during the game.
For
her part, Burkina Faso team trainer, Aminata Sissoko, said they were delighted
to eliminate The Gambia in the qualifiers as well as having their game plan
work in Banjul.
“After
winning the first leg at home, we came to Banjul in search of a draw which
worked so well for us,” she said.
Trainer
Sissoko, whose side would now face Nigeria in their final fixtures of the
qualifiers, said she is optimistic that they can defeat Nigerian despite,
Nigerian being a footballing nation on the continent.
The
winner of the encounters will progress into the FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup in
Costa Rica, Panama.
