Scorpions Must Score!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008
It was good news last Sunday when in the 17th minute of the Gambia-Liberia playoff match in Monrovia the Scorpions cracked in the first goal of the match. It was an early goal that fans had been either expecting or hoping for and it could have been used as a strong foundation to build up further goals in the remaining 73 minutes. But it was not to be. The Scorpions were seen to lack the finishing touch in their attacks. Although the speed and finishing ability of Ose Jallow might have been the missing factor we cannot rely on the scoring efforts of one player only.

The Scorpions must endevour to provide the finishing punch otherwise all the energy put into these attacking movements would simply represent a waste of time, effort and scoring opportunities.

On the other hand even capitalising on just one or two scoring opportunities could have put the Scorpions beyond reach especially as we could have taken full advantage of the away goals rule.

Similarly the team must try to avoid lapses especially in the dying minutes of a match as was the case in Liberia when the Scorpions conceded a goal in the 82nd minute of the match.

We must not forget however that securing even one away goal will favour the Scorpions tremendously.

Having said all this we must be thankful for the 1 – 1 draw and wish our boys well in the big game next Sunday when they host Senegal at the Independence Stadium in Bakau. The team would be wise to attackon all cylinders so as to stand a chance in the return game in Senegal. In particular the team should aspire to not waste goal-scoring opportunities.

Meanwhile we remember to encourage the new Head Coach Mr. Paul Put and his lieutenants and to ask fans to crowd the stadium and give the team all their support from the first to the final whistle.