Daily Champion (Lagos)
Florence Okorie
31 October 2009
Lagos — African champions, Gambia, will have to win their last group match against hard-fighting Colombia today if they must realize their dream of reaching the second round of Nigeria 2009 U-17 World Cup.
Having lost their two previous outings to Iran and the Netherlands, the Baby Scorpions as they are called, are now in a position where the tie against the South Americans is a must-win. The team is placed last in Group C with just one goal to show.
Only a comprehensive victory over Colombia will see them scrapping through as one of the best losers, as Nigeria did in Egypt at the U-20 level.
Coach of the team, Tarik Siagy, has been under intense pressure from fans at home to qualify the team for the next round, a task he said might prove difficult to accomplish, even as he promised that the defensive blunders, which cost them vital points, would be corrected before the encounter against Colombia.
"From the look of things, we have pushed ourselves into a tight corner and it will only take a miracle for us to get out of the bad situation. I'm aware that Gambians at home expect the team to go beyond the first round, but things have turned out differently and we have to pray that we don't go back home so soon.
"It was our defensive errors that our opponents capitalized on in our two previous matches. That has already been taken care of. It's going to be a tough one against Colombia because the boys are fast and eager to go further in the competition. However, we are not afraid of them."
Ebrima Bojang, Lamin Sarjo Samateh and Midfielder Alieu Darboe who plays his club football with French side, Lemans, are the reliable players Siagy will be banking on to break the Colombian defence and score as many goals as possible to boost their round of 16 chances.
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