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 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

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.