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Gambia: In CAF 2008 Qualifiers,Guinea Conakry Trash Gambia 2-0

In the ongoing African Nations Cup qualifiers for Ghana 2008, Syli Nationals of Guinea Conakry on Saturday humiliated the Gambia senior national team by two goals to nil in front of home crowd at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

The Scorpions during the first half launched series of attacks on the Guineans but could not make it in the finishing touches and as a result squandered a lot of goal chances.

However, during the second half of the match, Syli National changed their tactic and in the 53rd minute capitalised on a foul committed by Gambian Seyfo Solley to register their first goal through a header by Kaba Diawara.

Despite the changes made by the Gambian technical side to equalize, the Guineans again made used of a delay by Seyfo Solley in clearing the ball out of the eighteen yards box of the Gambia’s goalmouth. Guinea’s Pascal Fendouno snatched the ball from Seyfo and scored the second goal for his side in the 69th minute.

When Syli National registered their second goal, the Gambian team were in total confusion and could no longer play as expected of them leaving the disappointed and disgruntled Gambian home crowd with no alternative but to leave the stadium even before the end of the match.

Speaking to reporters shortly after the game, the caretaker coach Alhagie Sarr of the senior squad expressed disappointment over the performance of his boys. 

According to coach Sarr, the Scorpions lost the game because of bad attitude. “The players should change their attitude if we want to win,” he said.

He however cautioned the Gambia Football Association to be making proper consultation in the way they invite players for matches.

“Before inviting a player for any game, one should know whether the players are playing active football,” he said, adding that players are not in the field to entertain the public but to play for the sake of winning.

For his part, the Guinean coach, Robert Muzaret, said The Gambia was more tactical than his side in the first half, which gave his team a lot of problems.

“ In the second half, after keenly reading the game during the first half with my technical side, I decided to change the formation of my team and it really worked for me,” he said.

The team coach stated that his task towards the Gambia match was to get the three clear points, adding that although they managed to get it but it wasn’t easy them.

He however complained about the poor condition of the pitch, which he said gave a lot of problems to his boys.

Meanwhile, Algeria is top of the group (Group H) with seven clear points, followed by Guinea Conakry with four points. Cape Verde and The Gambia are each having three points with goal difference in favour of The Gambia.

The returned leg between the Gambia and Guinea Conakry is scheduled for 3June in Conakry. The Gambia will also lock horns with Cape Verde on 17 June in Praia and with Algeria on 8 September in Banjul.