New England Revolution midfielder Abdoulie Ken Mansally has urged his Scorpions teammates to do every thing possible to quality for both the Olympic Games in London and the Africa Nations Cup finals in Gabon\Equatorial Guinea in 2012.
The former national U-17 team hit man is part of Paul Put’s squad that began an intensive training programme at the Box Bar Mini-stadium in Brikama last week as the Scorpions prepare for the 2012 Olympic Games to be hosted in London under the guidance of the Belgian tactician.
Ken, as he is affectionately called, was seen sitting on the sideline during Tuesday’s training session in Brikama, after picking up an injury in his right angle while training for the Scorpions on Monday.
He returned to full training yesterday looking set to help The Gambia reach the finals of the world’s biggest sporting event (the Olympics Games) as well as the Africa Nations cup finals.
“I think it is high time for us to qualify for both the Olympics Games and the Africa Nations Cup finals and this is possible if we put our house together,” Mansally, whose MLS side missed out a place in the playoffs earlier this season, told our reporter.
“I think it is high time for us to emulate the successes registered by the U-17 and U-20 by advancing to big events like the Olympics and the Nations cup competitions,” he said.
Mansally also took time to reflect on this year’s New England Revolution MLS season where he and his Gambian compatriot Sainey Nyassi finished eight position in the Major League Soccer table.
He was disappointed at missing out a place in the playoffs for the first time since joining the MLS outfit a few years ago, together with his fellow countryman.
Mansally is expected to be joined by his compatriots from MLS for the Olympic Games qualifiers due to commence in March.
The Gambia will travel to Cotonou, Benin, for the Olympic Games qualifying campaign set to commence in three months’ time.
