By Arfang M.S Camara
The Gambia U-23 head coach, Abdou Jammeh has promised to work on his tactics despite winning their first leg of the Afcon qualifiers away against Burkina Faso in Cotonou, Benin.
The Scorpions U-23 defeated the Stallions 1-0 away in their first leg of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers played in Cotonou, Benin on Wednesday. The game served as Burkina Faso home match after having their stadium banned by CAF, likewise The Gambia.
Momodou Bojang scored the only goal for The Gambia U-23 team after converting a penalty spot in the 76th minute of the second half.
The Gambian mesmerizing winger Lamin Jarjou was brought down in the box in the 75th minute shortly after his introduction from the bench.
“Now we got the idea about our opponents on how they want to play. In the first half we were a bit floppy, because we were expecting a bit of physical football from the Burkinabe,” Coach Jammeh further said.
He added that they brought in some of his physical players to contain Burkina Faso in the first, adding that then in the second half they brought in the technical players to give them the maximum points.
“The idea was to know little about our opponents and now we know their strengths and weaknesses. This will help us in the second leg to focus more on their weaknesses.”
According to him, his players were a bit nervous during the first half, as they gave them time to recover and regain their shape. He added that they were more offensive in the second half than in the first half.
“We are now going to focus more on our tactics after now having an idea of our opponents. The first leg encounter was very difficult for us despite winning, because we didn’t have all our players with some arriving very late,” he said.
He noted that after seeing everybody now, the focus will be to go to the training ground and prepare their tactics for the return leg next week.
Coach Jammeh revealed that he will never have a selection problem amongst his players unlike some Gambia fans, adding that he is a coach who has been practicing for over three years.
“I decide my team selection from the training ground. It doesn’t matter whether you play for Real Madrid or wherever, the decision is on the training ground. My decision doesn’t matter about where you play but who plays which suits my tactics.”
Meanwhile, The Gambian side last night left Benin for Morocco ahead of the second leg on Tuesday, 27 September 2022. Lamarana Jallow, the absentee in the Scorpions squad during the first leg, arrived in Marrakech yesterday morning ahead of the second leg on Tuesday.