By Arfang M.S. Camara
Tom Saintfiet, head of The Gambia Scorpions team has said that reaching the quarterfinals and to play against the host nation Cameroon is an amazing feeling.
The Belgian-Gambian coach was speaking during a post-match press conference after The Gambia defeated Guinea Conakry 1-0 in their round of 16 quarterfinal match played at the Stade de Baffousam on Monday.
Bologna striker Musa Barrow scored for The Gambia in the 71st minute to send the Scorpions to the quarterfinal stage of their maiden Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon.
The Scorpions of The Gambia will now face Cameroon in the quarterfinal on Saturday, after the host nation defeated Comoros 2-1 on Monday.
“It is an amazing feeling reaching the quarterfinals and now to play against the host nation, Cameroon in the last eight,” he further said.
“We always take it game by game and maybe we need a little bit of luck. I think we played a decent game against Guinea on Monday, even though we missed a lot of players after making two changes in the last hours before the game. But I am happy that my boys reacted very well and we are now in the quarterfinals.”
He continued: “We keep on dreaming and actually if you play the quarterfinal, you need to win. We will prepare against Cameroon, as we have a few days to recover. On Saturday, we are going to play all we can to stay in the competition.”
Coach Saintfiet expressed happiness for the support he is getting from his players, staff, GFF, government and fans.
“This is a dream and we had plans. We have a few more days before our quarterfinal match, let’s see where it stops.”
Meanwhile, the Scorpions will next play the host country Cameroon in the quarterfinal on Saturday 29 January 2022 at 4pm in Douala.
