The Gambia secured a place in the continent’s bi-annual biggest football fiesta following dramatic 2-2 draw against Congo Brazzaville in Marrakech, Morocco on Sunday 10th September 2023.
The Gambia and Congo Brazzaville qualifier match went ahead despite the devastating earthquake which hit the Moroccan city, killing over 2,000 people.
The Red Devils of Congo Brazzaville took an early 2-0 lead through Gaius Makouta and Silvere Ganvoula M’boussy in the 30th and 45+1 minute of the first half.
Substitutes Yankuba Minteh and Muhammed Badamosi leveled matters for The Gambia in the 79th and 90th minute of the match respectively to earn the Scorpions a place in the Africa Cup of Nation for the second time in their history.
“We never have the intention to play defensively.
We played with three strikers Musa Barrow, Assan Ceesay and Ebrima Colley in front, with Hamza Barry and Alassan Manneh, two skillful midfielders behind them.
We played in a very offensive formation,” said the Scorpions coach in an interview.
He added that they wanted to play in the first half like they did in the second half, adding that the intention and the mission was for Musa Barrow, Assan Ceesay and Ebrima Colley to make most of the attacking but they couldn’t due to their nervousness and emotion of the earthquake incident.
“In the first half, we were so emotional, stress and didn’t come out but at half time, I told the boys to relax and not to think about scoring goals in the first half to bring confidence back in our way of playing.
He noted that in the second half they brought in new players (who couldn’t play more than 45 minutes as advised by their medical reports) in with the hope that they could turn things around.
“Ablie Jallow is normally a starter but he had only played 30 minutes in two months with Metz.
‘‘We couldn’t bring him earlier due to his medical report advised by his club that was the reason.
‘‘We kept other players like Yankuba Minteh, Ablie Jallow and Muhammed Badamosi for other purposes,’’ Coach Saintfiet explained.
Even if it was goalless, we would’ve brought these players in to make some changes to make a difference in the second half,’’ he said.
According to him, it is not that they woke up and wanted to play different football, adding that they always wanted to play the same football like in the second half.
‘‘The only thing in the first half; we were too nervous and didn’t do what was expected but in the second half, we brought the confidence back and proved that we were the best team,” Coach Saintfiet pointed out.
He revealed that they have an honest feeling that they were going to come back during the second period, looking at how they were pushing, possessing and creating chances in the second half.
