Following
an unimpressive performance at home against the Mauritanian side in The Gambia
in the first leg of the qualifying rounds of the CAF Youth championship
play-off, The Gambia U-20 team on Saturday eliminated Mauritania 3-1 in the second leg encounter
played in Nouakchott.
The result
of the game is the opposite of what happened in Banjul when the Gambian U-20 only
managed a 1-0 home win after a late goal scored by team captain Pa Modou Jagne.
The home
side took the lead in the seventh minute of the first half through its
formidable striker after a goal to The Gambia was disallowed by the referee,
thus emboldening the Mauritanian side to capitalise and register their first
goal through striker Omar Faal.
The first
half thus ended in favour of the home side.
The Gambia came
into the second half with a 4-4-2 formation and Modou Lamin Sillah replaced
striker Cherno Njie, who was substituted for sustaining an injury. The second
half also saw the coming in of Striker Sainey Touray alias Ballack, joining his
former U-17 team partner Ebou Bojang up front to give Coach Lorenzo
Rubbinacci’s side more force that translated into pressure for the
Mauritanians.
When the
Gambian captain, Pa Modou Jagne, was brought down in the Mauritanian box in the
47thminute, The Gambia was awarded a penalty,
which was converted to a goal by Captain Pa Modou bringing The Gambia level.
Mauritania’s hopes of advancing to the next
stage was dashed when Gambia’s
two unstoppable strikers, Ebou Bojang and Sainey Touray (Ballack), justified
their partnering up front with a show of impressive football in their onslaught
on the Mauritanians. Lanky Ebou Bojang put The Gambia in the lead, before
spelling irreversible defeat for the home side with his second goal, bringing
the tally 3-1. The Gambia
will now play Ghana and the
first leg is scheduled to take place in Accra, Ghana in the last round of the play off onthe weekend ofSeptember 26th2008 before the tournament kicks off in Rwanda in 2009.
Meanwhile
the team is expected to arrive in Banjul
today, Monday14th uly 2008.