(Tuesday 15th October 2019 Issue)
Scorpions
head coach Tom Saintfiet has expressed dissatisfaction despite Gambia securing
its place into the group stage of the 2021 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Saintfiet
further expressed disappointment with his team nit being able to win Djibouti
in the normal time during their second leg of the Afcon 2021 preliminary played
at the Independence Stadium.
The
Belgian coach was speaking in an interview with journalists shortly after The
Gambia’s 3-2 on post-match penalty shootout win over Djibouti following a 1-1
draw in the return fixtures of the Africa Cup of Nations preliminary.
Mahdi
Houssein opened the score line for Djibouti after converting a penalty spot in
the 9 minutes of the first half, while Ablie Jallow equalised for the Scorpions
in the stoppage time of the first half before going for the break.
The
Scorpions first drew 1-1 with the Shoremen of the Red Sea last Wednesday in
Djibouti as they drew 2-2 on aggregate before heading for penalty kicks to
decides the winner in which Scorpions goalkeeper Modou Jobe alias Toldo was the
star during the kicks after making two great saves for the Gambian side.
Coach
Sainfiet further said that the good thing is they are through to the group
stage but as a coach he is unsatisfied they can’t win in the normal time. “I
think today we played attacking and good combination football and created a lot
of goal-scoring opportunity but I wanted to win in a normal game situation and
not on penalties,” he said.
According
to him the Scorpions should have scored before their counterparts, adding that
we also had the opportunity to score more goals after Djibouti registered their
goal.
He
admitted the second period of the game was more difficult compared to the first
period.
He
highlighted that coming back from Djibouti was so difficult for them as they
only had a night sleep as they travelled the other nights.
He
conceded that he knew it wouldn’t be easy for them at home against Djibouti.
He
added that they wanted to perform better than the first-leg because they wanted
to play offensive football to put more pressure on their opponent, noting that
they scored an own-goal in Djibouti but luckily they equalised.
For
his part, Julian Mette, Djibouti coach expressed happiness with his players for
putting up a great fight against the scorpions, saying that they have only one
professional player compared to The Gambia.
He
added that they tough that The Gambia will give them a heavy defeat at home and
therefore applauded the great team fight from his players.
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