By Arfang M.S Camara
The head coach of The Gambia Under-20, Abdoulie Bojang has put a blame on the central referee in their 1-0 defeat against their neigbours Senegal during their fourth and final WAFU group B match played in Mauritania on Monday.
The victory finished Senegal top of the group while The Gambia and Guinea were tied at seven points each after the latter won 4-3 against Liberia at the same time but Abdoulie Bojang’s charges finished in second place with a better goal difference.
“It’s rather unfortunate the way we lost. Personally, for me it’s hard to take because to me it was just a give-away goal to Senegal. That was not the right penalty. It’s hard to say sometimes even when we are asked to leave the referee but sometimes if you’re dissatisfied with the referee’s decision it’s and sometimes hard to take,” said Gambia’s coach Abdoulie Bojang.
“Our last game we scored a very good goal and it was disallowed, again we saw Senegal were given a very cheap penalty which would have allowed the game to flow.”
According to him, they look forward to continue putting a very good performance to defend the title
“I am very much impressed with the performance of the boys. They definitely put up a respectable performance, coming from behind, playing good football, sticking to the game plan and we could’ve even won the game.”
Coach Lie Bojang further said that despite Senegal being the favourite, they were better than them during the 90 minutes, adding that they beat them in the final during the last edition.
The Young Scorpions will play Mali in the first semifinal fixture in the U-20 WAFU Cup of Nations on Friday 9th September while Senegal entertain Mauritania in the late kickoff of the same day.
Both matches will be played at Cheikha Boidiya Stadium in Nouakchott. The winners from the matches will play the finals on Sunday 11th September, 2022.
The two finalists will qualify for the 2023 U-20 Cup of Nations in Egypt.