Daily Trust (Abuja)
29 October 2009
Abuja — Gambia's Under-17 national team coach, Tariq Saigy, is hopeful of making it to the next round of the on-going cadet championship, in spite of losing 1-2 to Netherlands. His Dutch counterpart, Albert Stuivenberg, is, however, cautious of their last group match against Iran, scheduled for Enugu on Friday.
Speaking at a post-match news conference, Saigy admitted that his players were inexperienced and made some mistakes."The absence of the team which won the African championship has greatly affected us. We have only five players from that team participating in this tournament, Saigy, an Egyptian, said.
He said despite the loss, his team still had the chance of making it to the next round, if they defeated Colombia, their next opponents convincingly.
The coach said that the hot weather of that area also took its toll on the players.
Stuivenberg also said that the weather affected his team.
"I am pleased with the outcome of the match. Both sides played good games.
"Although the weather made my players lose steam, nevertheless we had to go on," he said.
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