The Gambia Under 20 team have moved to camp last night with 20 players as preparations for the final round qualifier of the African Youth Championship intensify.

The Gambia have been paired against Ghana for the two-legged fixture with the first leg coming up in Accra on Sunday, September 28.

Lamin Sarr, who was named as the new Gambia Under 20 coach after the abrupt resignation of Italian coach Lorenzo Rubbinacci, has invited 20 players for camping yesterday with the number expected to be sliced down to 18 before the team’s departure for Accra tomorrow.

The list includes three foreign players, but only one of them has arrived so far.
Sainey Sidibeh of VFL 93Germany has joined the camp, while coach Sarr still expects the arrivals of Pa Modou Jagne of FC Wils in Finland and Abdourahman Dampha who is currently making name for himself in the Algerian first division league.

There will be a huge pressure on coach Sarr to complete the brilliant run started by coach Lorenzo Rubbinacci who guided the Gambia pass Mauritania in the first qualifying round.

Gambia’s Belgian coach, Paul Put, has told Observer Sports that morale at the Scorpions camp at the Seaview Hotel is extremely high, as they prepare for the crucial World Cup and African Nations Cup qualifier match againts Liberia at the Independence Stadium on Saturday, at 16:30 hours.

"All the players are in high spirits and going about their training schedules with much more attention. They really are very confident for victory on Saturday", Paul Put told Observer Sports yesterday.

Put will be without the services of some key players including the England based striker Edrissa Sonko and Finland export Dawda Bah, and the European has admitted this was a blow.

“You can always count on experienced players like Edrissa Sonko and Dawda Bah. So it is a blow that they are not with us. Nonetheless I have confidence in the players who are presently in camp and I know they will prove their worth,” he said.

He added that the players are aware of the big task ahead of them in their encounter against the Lone Stars, adding "they take this match as 'the mother of all battles' since a win will enhance their battle readiness for the final onslaught to progress to the next stage of the qualifiers".

The European coach, however, appealed to all and sundry to ask for God's guidance for the players in their determination to qualify for their first-ever World Cup and Nations Cup finals.

 "Gambians must troop in their numbers to the stadium to cheer our boys to victory on Saturday", he concluded.

The Scorpions are looking to beat Lone Star tomorrow and then avoid defeat away to Senegal in the final round of matches in October to stand a chance of progressing to the next stage of the qualifiers.

Group leaders Senegal will qualify if they win in Blida on Saturday against second-placed Algeria.

After eliminating Mauritania in the first round qualifier, the Gambia Under 20 team will now square off against fellow west African nation, Ghana, in their quest for a place in the African Youth Championships finals to be hosted in Rwanda next year.

Despite losing 1-0 to Angola, Ghana advanced to the final qualifier stage having won the first-leg 5-1 in Accra.

The Gambia will first travel to Ghana at the end of September for the first leg encounter and will host the Black Stars in Banjul in mid-October, 2008.

The winner in the two-legged tie will advance to the finals as one of seven teams to join the hosts, Rwanda, in the championship proper scheduled between January 18 and February 1, 2009.

The Gambia Scorpions will lock horns with Terenga Lions of Senegal on Sunday for the second day of twin qualifier for South Africa and Angola 2010.

The Banjul fixture dubbed as West African local derby will come on the heels of Scorpions 1-1 draw against the Lone Star of Liberia in Group 6 opener in Monrovia.

The group other contenders, Senegal and Algeria  played a day earlier with the Teranga Lions of Senegal collecting a narrow win over Algeria’s Desert Warriors in Dakar.

There is high optimistic that the Scorpions, who have been training intensively since their return from Monrovia, will beat the visiting Terenga Lions on Sunday to avenge their 2003 Dakar defeat.

Coach Paul Put is yet to name his 18-man squad for the Sunday tie, but it is widely believed that the Belgian will not make much changes to the squad that held Liberia last weekend.

The fast-track qualifier will decide on candidates for the first ever World Cup to be held on African soil. The qualification process will also decide the 15 teams who will join host Angola to take part at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

There are 48 teams involved in the first round which is a 12 group, round-robin, dual qualification process with only five places available for African teams at the World Cup.

The group winners and eight best runners up will qualify through to a further group stage where the teams will then be split in to five groups of four.

The five group winners will book a place at the South Africa finals, while the group winners and two runners up in each group will qualify for Angola finals.

Senegalese national team will jet into Banjul barely 24 hours before their 2010 World Cup and Nations qualifier fixture against The Gambia Scorpions on Sunday.

Observer Sports has gathered that the Terenga Lions will arrive in Banjul on Saturday morning on board a chartered flight. The team will be lodged at Sun Beach Hotel in Bakau.

The visiors are expected to hold a light training at the main football pitch housed at the Independence Stadium on Saturday evening.

Scorpions skipper, Ebou Sillah, has told Observer Sports that he and his team-mates will do their best on the pitch and leave the rest to God when Gambia take on Liberia in the Group Six opener of the 2010 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifier on Sunday.

Gambia’s 18-man squad led by the new coach Belgian Put Put left Banjul this morning for Monrovia amidst high optimism, and according to the Holland’s MVV (Maastrichtse Voetbal Vereniging)  winger, Gambian fans should expect anything from the match.

“It’s football and anything can happen. We are going there to raise our flag high and we hope that we return home with something to boast up with,” he said.

Captaincy

Though this is not the first that the former Real de Banjul FC, Blankenberge,  Club Brugge K.V., Harelbeke, Roosendaal, FC Brussels, and Hapoel Petah Tikva FC star will captain the Scorpions, Sillah is however, delighted that the new coach has extended the arm ban to him.

“This is not the first time to be the captain of The Gambia. However, I am happy to be the given the captaincy again. It is a great responsibility, but equally, it’s a big honour for me.”

On the state of Gambia’s preparedness, Sillah said his team-mates are well focused ahead of the encounter. “The boys are well prepared for the game. We are lucky to have a team that have lot of young players who are talented, discipline and eager to deliver. I can see it from the training ground that they always want to give it their best.”

Derby match

While Sillah is currently concentrating on the Liberia tie, he is still having his one eye on other coming fixtures, more specially, the home tie against Senegal which will come just six days after the Liberia match.

I don’t know of Liberia but with Senegal, it is always a derby match simple because we speak almost the same language and share the same culture. So that game is going to be very tough. There also exists a bit rivalry between us and Algeria because last year, we went there and lost, and when they came here we beat them. So we should not take anything for granted knowing fully that they will be better prepared for us.

New coach

When asked about his impression about the appointment of Belgian Paul Put as Scorpions coach, Sillah has this to say: “I have met Paul Put before, then I was in Belgium. He has never been my coach then, but I had played against his team in Belgium. And I know that the team he was managing were very successful.”

“Now I started working with him here in the Gambia, and I am very impressed with what I have seen so far. He is doing a great job for the team and I trust him.”

“It’s not easy for him - having only a week to prepare a team for such a crucial campaign. But he is doing his best to put the team on the right track.”

“We have played few warm up matches, and this has given him (coach) the opportunity to acquaint himself with the players. He has also told us what he wants us to do, and we will strive to ensure that our  our dreams are realised.”

The Scorpions went to camp last night, at the Paradise Suites Hotel, as preparations intensify for Gambia’s Group Six opener against Liberia in the 2010 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifier campaign.

The Scorpions will face the Lone Stars on Sunday, June 1, in Monrovia, in a crucial opener that will also mark their first assignment with the Belgian coach Paul Put, who recently inked a one-year deal with The Gambia Football Association.

The European has, since last week, commenced training with the team that comprise of the first contingent of professionals blended with some home-based players.

Goalkeeper Musa Bajaha and Azziz Corr Nyan were expected to arrive last night to join in camp the likes of Mustapha Jarju, Ebrima Sawaneh, Kamal Ndow, Pa Saikou Kujabi, Mathew Mendy and Ebou Sillah who have arrived since last week.

The last contingent of professional players which are expected to arrive in the next few days, will include the Norwegian FC Brann duo, Njogu Demba and Tijan Jaiteh, Russian-based defender, Abdou Jammeh, Dawda Bah, Demba Savage, Yankuba Ceesay, Edrissa Sonko and Ebrima Sohna.

Reports reaching Observer Sports have it that The Gambia Football Association is at advance stage of securing the services of a seasoned Belgian coach to lead the Scorpions in their bid for a place at the 2010 World Cup finals, to be hosted in South Africa, and the Africa Nations Cup finals in Angola in the same year.

Confirmed sources informed Observer Sports that the Scandinavian coach is currently in the country awaiting the approval of the department of state for Youth and Sports before taking charge of the Scorpions who have been left coach-less since the departure of Spanish Jose Martenez.

An official at The Gambia Football Association has confirmed the arrival of the coach, adding that the sports department has been duly informed of his arrival.

“We have written to the department of state for Youth and Sports and we are now waiting for their response before we can engage the coach,” the source added.

The Gambia government, through the department of state for Youth and Sports, has recently succeeded in hiring the services of two Italian coaches. But with one of them serving as a goalkeeper trainer, and the other to take charge of the Under 20 team, the senior team would still need a coach who will guide them to the 2010 qualifier competition.

Peter Bonu Johnson, has been appointed as Scorpions caretaker coach, but  the former Under 20 coach is expected to be reassigned to the position of an assistant coach when a potential coach is named.

Gambia’s quest for a spot in South Africa and Angola finals respectively will commence on May 31, with an away-tie to Liberia. The Scorpions will also face arch rivals Senegal and Algeria in the fast-track qualifier competition.