By Momodou Jarju
The Gambia’s under-20 Head Coach Abdoulie Bojang has voiced his optimism of his-led team’s ability to shine in the forthcoming WAFU Zone A tournament slated for September 2024 in Liberia. The tourney also represents as qualifiers for the next AFCON U20 championship.
Bojang’s remarks came on the heels of last Friday’s draw which saw the Young Scorpions pitted against Senegal, Mali, and Mauritania in Group B. The Young Scorpions will open their account against Mauritania before entertaining neighbours Senegal and wrap up the group stage against Mali.
He has since announced his final 31-player squad for the aforementioned competition with reports indicating that a thorough selection was done, involving players from different divisions and overcoming issues like passport delays and trial uncertainties.
Coach Bojang acknowledged the group is tough yet fair in an interview with the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) media. He re-echoed his recent mantra that The Gambia is longer considered an underdog in this competition.
“These are countries we have played in the previous tournaments,” he noted, while stressing the importance of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents to better prepare for the matches.
“What is crucial now is ensuring that we strengthen the good preparations we started a month ago, to try to have test matches and sort out a formidable team for the qualifiers,” he told GFF media.
“It is football and we are very optimistic; with due respect to all the teams, but we have what it takes to qualify. We believe in ourselves that we have a team that can beat any opponent.”
