By Momodou Jarju
The Algerian local-based national team Saturday held The Gambia’s Home-based Scorpions to a goalless draw in the first leg of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championships (CHAN) final qualifying round.
The afternoon kick off was held at the newly refurbished Independence Stadium in Bakau—a first home game played in Gambian soil after little over three years of the country playing home games away due to CAF ban on the aforesaid stadium. The turnout was poor by the way!
The game’s tempo was quite slow in intensity as the visitors gave the hosts the ball possession for the most part while they tried to create goal scoring situations amid a weather condition they aren’t accustomed to.
Both teams started the game with slow build ups and two minutes into the first half saw Gambia’s Ebrima Fofana’s strike outside the box stumbled into the path of striker Ebrima Gaye who, oblivious of the situation, couldn’t capitalise on the slim opportunity. Fofana attempted another strike out of the 18-yard but it was weak to trouble the Algerian goalkeeper Oussama Benbot moments later.
The visitors grew into the game in the first quarter getting three corners in the process to The Gambia’s none. Gambian shot-stopper Lamin Saidy received his first test of the game when he saved forward Aymen Mahious’s acrobatic overhead kick at the edge of the penalty box from their second corner.
The hosts’ first corner came in the 26th minute but like their opponents, they failed to capitalise on the set piece. The Gambia also grew into the game in the last quarter of the first stanza and Adama Kanteh came close to scoring when his powerful volley out of the penalty box went inches over the crossbar in the 35th minute.
The best chance in the first half came three minutes later when the visitors’ Adil Boulbina dribbled past Captain Siady but his strike hit the near post. A minute before the end of the first stanza, Boulbina was booked for diving in the penalty box. The second period resumed with a similar start to the first. Both coaches made substitutions to strengthen their sides.
The hosts had the best chance in the 56 minute as Pa Modou Sohna dazzled with the ball and found Kanteh whose cross was headed back to his path, but his overpowered volley went over the bar. From this point, the Gambian side continued to pile more pressure on the visitors, winning possessions after possessions but failed to create threatening chances. The visitors had a chance in the 65th minute when Mahious’s header in the box went wide.
Kanteh was stretched out in the 79th minute but he went back into the field after the medics treated him briefly. He was however replaced by Ebou Camara four minutes later. The Gambia had a late chance when Sohna dribbled his marker in the right flank and delivered a low cross but the visitors cleared the danger ball after Musa Ceesay couldn’t connect to it. Thereafter, Ebou Camara almost stole the show with a last minute effort as he attempted to lob Benbot to no avail.
Meanwhile, the result leaves the tie wide open for either team in the second leg this Saturday in Algeria. The winner qualifies to the CHAN finals to be hosted jointly by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda from 2–30 August 2025.
The head coach of Home-based Scorpions Alhagie Sarr said they failed to capitalize on their chances and though not an excuse, they couldn’t get all players together during weeks of their training due to the ongoing domestic competitions.
“We want to win today’s game. And we want to qualify because that is our objective,” he said while noting that they’ll prepare for the return leg. Sarr said they’ll change their time of training to 7pm due to the different weather conditions in Algeria.
His counterpart Madjid Bougherra praised his players’ performance for being disciplined and having a strong mentality. He said The Gambia is “an athletic strong team” so they’re happy with the draw especially with hot weather conditions and a pitch he opined they couldn’t practise their football properly.
“It’s all the time a good result when you don’t lose. And the thing is it was the strategy of this game to leave the ball to the Gambian team. Because when you see the pitch, it’s not possible to play football properly as we want. And the tactic was to wait, to stay compact, let them open the space, and go into counterattack.
“I know if we start to press high, if we want to play football, we will suffer very fast and be tired very fast. And this is what I don’t want. And the plan was okay. We have some situations. Sometimes one situation is enough to kill the game, but we don’t score. But in the end, I’m still happy about the attitude of the player and the result,” Bougherra said. He also added that though the new look Independence Stadium is wonderful, its pitch needs improvement.
