By Arfang M.S. Camara
Atnant Musa, head coach of Steve Biko said despite Real de Banjul being a big and most organized team, his team (Steve Biko) has better players and a squad than Real de Banjul.
Steve Biko Coach Atnant Musa was speaking during an interview with reporters after playing a goalless draw against Real de Banjul during their week-25 fixtures of GFF 1st Division League played at the Independence Stadium in Bakau on Sunday.
Coach Atnant Musa made a direct response to Real de Banjul request before the game to play their match against Biko in Basori rather than the Stadium where Steve Biko defeated them during the first leg.
“Real is a big and most organised team but we all featured 11 players each. I have better players and a squad than Real de Banjul. I am not scared to play against Real de Banjul anywhere in the world,” he said coach Atnent Musa while responding to the Real de Banjul request to play the match in Basori rather than the Stadium.
According to him, Real de Banjul didn’t want the game to be played at the stadium simply because of massive support Steve Biko always has whenever they are playing at the stadium.
The support of our fans plays a very big role in pushing Steve Biko this season. This is one of the reasons why Real de Banjul made a request to play the game in Basori,” he said.
He added that they knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game even though they have nothing to lose, adding that because they were not playing under pressure unlike their opponent Real de Banjul.
“Real were looking for a win to put pressure on leaders Hawks FC. We knew we were going to play freely even though mathematically we didn’t reach our target point for the season,” he said.
He added that they studied Real de Banjul and allowed them to play during the first half, adding that coming into the second period they were hoping to score a goal as they were dominating.
“We know that if we don’t score during the game, it is going to be very difficult for Real de Banjul to score against us.”
The result put Steve Biko to 7th position with 32 points, leveling with Marimoo FC.
For his part, Ebrima Cham, Real de Banjul team training said that they (Real) weren’t playing under pressure, noting that though they knew their game against Steve Biko was never easy.
“We played well during the first half, creating some goal scoring opportunities which we couldn’t utilise. The second half was very difficult to create another chance,” he said.
According to him, they don’t usually have any pressure when it comes to the Gambian league, as they are one of the oldest teams.
“Despite we want to win the league, it doesn’t mean that we should put pressure on our players to win games. We are taking things game by game. Though we wanted to win, we didn’t come with any pressure.”
Real de Banjul who overall collected 13 victories, 6 draws and 5 defeats after 23 games maintained their 2 position with 45 points, three points behind leaders Hawks FC.