April 22, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
The Darling Scorpions of Gambia are aiming to complete the double over their Sierra Leonean opponent, Shooting Stars, on Saturday, 23 April in the return leg tie of the 2017 African U-20 Youth championship qualifiers at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.
When the two sides met at the Wusum Stadium in Makeni, northern Sierra Leone, a fortnight ago, the Gambians secured a 2-0 away win.
Despite the two goals advantage going into tomorrow’s clash, Darling Scorpions boss, Omar Sise, told local journalists that they are still hungry for another win to confirm their progress in the next round of the tournament.
“I have never gone into a football match, either as a coach or player, with another intension different from winning and that is not going to start now,” Sise said after his side’s 1-0 friendly win over Steve Biko at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.
“We are progressing very well and confident, but we cannot be complacent, so we are treating this game with the same level of seriousness as the one in Makeni, and besides we want to win in front of our own fans. So we will keep working hard; the most important thing that matters is the three points and not the amount of goals we score.”
While coach Sise is planning for the double, Shooting Stars boss Charlie Wright, who faces a daunting task, still believes his boys can do the unimaginable in The Gambia.
“We are going there with one mind, one spirit and one goal, which are to turn the result around and secure qualification to the next round,” Wright said before the team’s departure from Freetown. “This is football and I believe anything can happen. If they can do it in Makeni we can also do the same in The Gambia.”
Sierra Leone’s last outing in Banjul in this category ended in a 4-1 defeat to the Gambians during the 2011 qualifiers.
Tomorrow’s match will be played at the Independence Stadium, with kick off set for 4:30pm.
In other matches, Botswana will also look to complete the double over Zimbabwe in Lobatse, while Namibia and Swaziland will battle it out in Windhoek, as Mauritius will take on Mozambique in Curepipe.
North African duo Algeria and Tunisia will face tricky away ties against Mauritania and Niger in Nouakchott and Niamey respectively, while Somalia will play Ethiopia in Djibouti.