Gambians
would be eager to know what is next for Gambian football following the
country’s humiliating 4-0 defeat away to Mali in the return leg of their 2018
CHAN qualifiers played at the Estadio Modibo Keita in Bamako on Saturday.
The
defeat saw The Gambia out of the continent’s second biggest football fiesta the
2018 CHAN qualifiers and Mali through to the second round of the qualifiers
against Mauritania, who eliminated Liberia in the other first round qualifiers
tie played at the weekend.
The
Gambia will now hang their boots until 2020 CHAN qualifiers after their
disappointing exit from the 2018 CHAN qualifiers against Mali, in which the
home-based Scorpions were walloped 4-0 by the Eagles in the return leg fixtures
played in Bamako at the weekend.
The
Gambia national team the gallant Scorpions also lost away to Benin 1-0 in their
2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers opener in Cotonou last month.
The
defeat put the gallant Scorpions bottom-place in group D of the 2019 Africa Cup
of Nations qualifiers with zero point after losing to the squirrels in the
continent’s biggest football fiesta qualifiers opener last month.
The
gallant Scorpions now need to beat Algeria in their second group D qualifiers
fixtures in March 2018 in Banjul to fancy their hopes of qualifying for their
first-ever Africa Cup of Nations after losing to Benin in the opening qualifier match.
Coach
Alagie Sarr and his technical staff are mainly responsible for the team’s
heaviest defeat against the Malian team and also their elimination from the
2018 CHAN qualifiers, and they should explain the reason the team lost to Mali
in the return in Bamako.
The
country’s senior national team are yet to win a match in the qualifiers and
only managed to beat Central Africa Republic 2-1 in an international friendly
match played in Rabat, Morocco, in March 2017.
Since
then the gallant Scorpions had failed in all their assignments.
The
new government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Sports
Council should try and assign foreign coaches for the country’s various
national teams because the Gambian coaches cannot take the national teams to
the Africa Cup of Nations, CHAN and World Cup.
The
new government under the leadership of His Excellency President Adama Barrow,
and the Ministry of Youth and Sports need to call a national football forum to
discuss the current situation of Gambian football and how to improve the
performance of the country’s national teams in the international matches after
their recent slump in the continent’s biggest football festive qualifiers.
