Before Gambia took on Austria, their head coach Peter Bonu Johnson said the Round of 16 contest would be "like the final" because if they lost they would have to pack their bags and head home.

FIFA.com caught up with the downhearted Gambia boss as he was doing just that in his hotel bedroom in Edmonton following their 2-1 defeat at the Commonwealth Stadium. Breaking away from reluctantly folding his clothes into a suitcase, he said: "I'm disappointed with the result but I am also very proud of my boys and their performance. We could have scored more goals if we had taken our chances in the second half but this is the passion and despair of football. At times it will not walk with you."

Skipper Ken Jammeh was sent off in the 2-1 group stage win over Portugal and his suspension against Austria was compounded when Tijan Jaiteh was dismissed in the 43rd minute of the second round tie. However, just as they had against Portugal, Gambia grew stronger in the face of adversity and, despite conceding just before half-time, the Baby Scorpions had a sting in their tails. They overwhelmed Austria at times and drew level before falling to Erwin Hoffer's late winner, so ending their first appearance in the knock-out phase of a FIFA tournament.

"If you make one simple mistake your opponent punishes you and that was what happened ten minutes before the end," said Johnson. "We lost concentration for a second and allowed their player to chest the ball down before he volleyed it in. In the first half we gave Austria too much respect and it was just unfortunate that we had that red card so early in the game but that was a motivating factor for the players. They were ready to give it all they have despite having one man down because they believed they could do it and they fought very hard to change the result."

Former Flamemins FC player Johnson added: "We only had a one-week training camp in the USA before heading here. That affected us a bit but our strength is that we play as a determined team. All the players give everything. They have learned a lot and it's unlucky that only three of them are playing with professional clubs - Tijan Jaiteh (Brann) and Ebrima Sohna (Sandefjord) in Norway, plus Ousman Jallow (Raja Casablanca) in Morocco. The others have definitely lived up to expectations, particularly Pierre Gomez, who has improved greatly. If we can get some more guys out to professional sides I think the future will be bright for Gambian football."

The Gambia U-20 Coach, Peter Bonu Johnson, has been awarded an international scholarship to pursue a B and A License in football in Montreal, Canada.

The scholarship is part of the Gambia National Olympic Committee drives to help in the development of High Performance Coaches in the country.

Having been already admitted to the 10th session of PAISAC autumn 2007 training in Applied Sports Science, Coach Johnson is expected to start this course from September 10 to December 7, 2007. 

If successful in completing the course and comes out brightly in the examination, Bonu would be the second Gambian Coach to have an A license in the history of Gambian football.

Austria sting their Gambian counterparts in last night’s second round clash at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Championships in Canada at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. Austria beat 10 men Gambia 2-1 to proceed to the quarter-final stages.

Gambia were reduced to ten men on the 42nd minutes with the sending off of versatile Tijan Jaiteh before Sabastian Proedl nodded home the opener just three minutes after, in a fiery first-half encounter that was admittedly dominated by Austria - the first team from the Alpine nations to advance to the second stage of a FIFA event since 1982.

Fresh from break however, saw a much better Gambian side as both Ousman Jallow and his strike-mate Sainey Nyassi came close to an equaliser.
As they fought for a late come-back, the Darling Scorpions’ hopes were restored on the 68th minutes when Pierre Gomez slotted in his first goal of the tournament to fetch the much needed equaliser.

However, Austria did not fail to utilise their numerical advantage and Gambia’s celebrations was short-lived when unmarked Hoffer chested down a well crossed ball before beating goalkeeper Gomez to seal the game at 2-1.

Victorious Austria will now travel to Toronto to meet in the quarter-finals, the mighty America who also eased past Uruguay with a 2-1 victory during their last night’s meeting.
Gambia became the first African side to be eliminated from the biennial championships, but the first-time finalists will still head home with pride.

After a losing 0-3 start to Mexico in their Group C opening match, the Darling Scorpions have improved match after match, as they defeated New Zealand and much fancied Portugal in the remaining two games to qualify as the second place team.

Meanwhile, the other three African representatives in the competition will all be engaged today as the last batch of the second round matches is cleared.

The low rated Austrian team last night ended the Gambia U-20 team dream of making to the last 8 of the ongoing World Youth championship in Canada.

Austria striker Erwin ‘Jimmy’ Hoffer came off the bench to fire his side into the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over ten-man Gambia at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on 11 July, 2007.

Gambia midfielder Tijan Jaiteh was sent off in the 43rd minute for his second yellow card and the Austrians took the lead in first half stoppage time as skipper Sebastian Proedl headed home Veli Kavlak’s free-kick. Gambia were desperately unlucky not to equalise when Abdoulie Mansally’s curling free-kick was tipped over the top by Michael Zaglmair after an hour and the Gambia midfielder hit the post with another set-piece attempt a minute later. Zaglmair then made a great save with his legs to deny Ousman Jallow as Gambia began to press hard and they drew level after 69 minutes. Austria midfielder Martin Harnik was caught in possession inside his own area before Pierre Gomez finished classily with the outside of his left boot, leaving Zaglmair rooted to the spot. Hoffer got the winner nine minutes from time when he blasted the ball high past the helpless Joseph Gomez.

Austria now head back to Toronto for a quarter-final meeting with either USA or Uruguay on 14 July, while Gambia head back to Africa having made history with their maiden second round appearance at a FIFA tournament.

The Gambia are billed to take on Austria in the round of 16 of the on-going FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada tonight.

The grand kickoff is scheduled for 21:45 GMT at Edmonton stadium. Gambia, who took off to a losing start (0-3 defeat to Mexico) went ahead to humble fellow new comers, New Zealand and Portugal 1-0 and 2-1 respectively, to settle for the second best side in Group C.

As African bronze medalists prepare to take on Austrians - the first team from the Alpine nation to advance to the second stage of a FIFA event since 1982, many pundits are holding Gambia as the favourites.

The Darling Scorpions will however go into tonight’s game without their prolific defender, skipper Ken Malamin Jammeh who was sent off for an unruly studs-up challenge on Andre Maques which ended the Portuguese's match and possibly tournament.

And with Bonu Johnson’s technical capability still being persistently questioned, many elites are optimistic that the Darling Scorpions will have nothing to lose tonight-thanks to the cohesiveness that exists in the squad.

The Gambian squad enjoys the kind of cohesiveness which is rarely found in other teams, despite the diverse ethnic, religious and even linguistic origins of its members.

This 'come one, come all' philosophy was summed up by the team's goal celebrations in the match against New Zealand and Portugal when they united in an Islamic-style prayer while dancing a traditional Gambian jig. In a team with no concept of barriers, everyone is able to put aside their differences and strive for the common good.
A win for Gambia tonight will see them lock horns, in the quarter finals, the winner in the America-Uruguay match.

After stunning Portugal in their last group match on Sunday, The Darling Scorpions of The Gambia would now face Austria in the first match of the round of 16 of the ongoing FIFA Youth championship underway in Canada.

The Darling Scorpions stormed the world with a 2-1 victory over one of tournament favourite, Portugal, clinching the second place in group C.

The match between Austria and Gambia is schedule to take place on Wednesday, July 11th 2007 at 21.45pm in Edmonton.

The team was expected to move from Montreal to Edmonton yesterday where they are expected to undergo their first training session on the main pitch of Commonwealth Olympic Stadium today.

Fixtures of the Last 16 Encounters

Wednesday 11/07/07: Austria Vs Gambia - Edmonton
Wednesday 11/07/07: USA Vs Uruguay – Toronto
Wednesday 11/07/07: Spain Vs Brazil - Burnaby
Wednesday 11/07/07: Japan Vs Czech Republic - Victoria

Thursday 12/07/07: Chile Vs Portugal - Edmonton
Thursday 12/07/07: Zambia Vs Nigeria – Ottawa
Thursday 12/07/07: Argentina Vs Poland - Toronto
Thursday 12/07/07: Mexico Vs Congo - Montreal

The Gambia U-20 team yesterday registered another milestone achievement by qualifying for the second round of the World Youth Championship currently underway in Canada, despite playing one man down through out the second period.

After losing to Mexico in their debut game and beating New Zealand in an unconvincing win, the Darling Scorpions bounced back last night by upsetting Portugal 2-1 in Montreal.
The victory gave the Gambia six points, second place in the group C and automatic ticket to the last 16.
In the highlights of the game, it was the Darling Scorpions who first mounted an assault on the Portuguese defense in the 7th minute when Pa Modou Jagne headed away a cross from Sainey Nyassi.
The Portuguese reacted in the 11th minute with a chance missed by Andre Marques.

The situation remained at stand still up to the 20th minute when Feliciano Condesso headed in the first goal of the game for Portugal following a poor challenge of goalkeeper Joseph Gomez.
The goal forced the Gambian Coach, Peter Bonu Johnson, to make some chances in his line up with the coming of Abdoulie Ken Mansally for Paul Jatta alias Apapa.
The chance paid well as the Gambia controlled the game and pushed the Portuguese defense to make lot of mistakes.

The turning point of the first occurred in the 44th minute when the Portuguese central defender Renato brought down Ousman Jallow in the six yard box.
The German central referee did not hesitate to show to penalty point for the Gambia.
Ousman Jallow made justice for himself by leveling the scores in the 44th minute at the joy of thousands of Gambians at home and abroad.
The first half ended 1-1.

The Gambia came back in the game after lemon break with more determination of clinching the three points.
Unfortunately for them their team captain Ken Malamin Jammeh was sent off in the 56th minute of the game due to hard tackle on Andre Marques, who never returned on the pitch after the injury.
Coach Bonu Johnson reinforced the defense by bringing Furmus Mendy for striker Ousman Jallow.
The red card was like an extra encouragement for the Darling Scorpions as they out played the Portuguese despite a man down.

The turning point of the game occurred in the 67th minute when Abdoulie Ken Mansally netted the second for the Gambia on a long rage free kick.
From there, the Darling scorpions never looked back as they continued to give unpleasant moment to both the front and defense of the Portuguese team.
With this victory, The Gambia would now face the second placed winners of group A, must likely Austria on Wednesday July 11th, 2007.

At the final whistle, thousands of Gambian at home stormed the streets to jubilate the most awaited victory from the team that made name for the Country.

Zambia will meet Nigeria in the last 16 of the Under-20 World Cup after their 2-0 victory over Uruguay secured them a place in the last 16.
Spain also advanced from Group B after a hat-trick from Adrian Lopez helped them beat Jordan 4-2.
Spain finished top of the group on seven points while Zambia’s 2-0 victory earned them second place with four points.
Uruguay finished third in the group, also on four points, but also go through to the knockout stage as one of the top third-placed sides.

Clifford Mulenga put Zambia in front in the 22nd minute with a penalty after Uruguay keeper Mauro Goicoechea brought down Emmanuel Mayuka and was sent.
Zambia’s numerical advantage did not last long as they had Henry Nyambe dismissed for a crude challenge on Mauricio Prieto.
But the Rodgers Kola doubled the lead in the 51st to put Zambia into the second round for the first time, where it will face fellow African side Nigeria next Thursday.

Japan, which secured first place in Group F by drawing 0-0 with Nigeria, benched eight starters for the game, while the Flying Eagles rested four.
The high point in a sloppy game before a sellout crowd of 11,500 at Royal Athletic Park was when Japan scored in the 62nd minute.
This was after defender Shinji Kagawa buried the ball into the top corner of the net after spinning to beat his marker.
But referee German Arredondo ruled Kagawa played the ball with his hand.
 

Play Portugal on Sunday

The Gambia Darling Scorpions collected their first three points in the ongoing World Youth Championship in Canada.

After losing to Mexico 3-0 in their debut match on Monday, the Darling Scorpions bounced back in their second game with a 1-0 victory over New Zealand.

A 22nd minute goal of Raja De Casablanca striker Ousman Jallow was enough for the Gambia to regain their hopes of qualifying to the second round.

But the Gambia needs another three points against Portugal on Sunday in Montreal.
That match is scheduled to take place on Sunday July 8, 2005 at 21.15pm in Montreal.

A victory would surely assure a ticket for the second round.