The Gambia Scorpions will take on the Lone Stars of Sierra Leone in an international friendly scheduled for Sunday, December 23, at the Independence Stadium, Bakau.

Both nations are using the match as part of their preparations for the 2010 World Cup qualifier competition that will double as qualifiers for Angola 2010 Nations Cup finals.

Coaches Tarik Siagy and Lamin Sarr are currently training with the team that includes both home-based and professional players.

Russian-based player, Abdou Jammeh, Dawda Bah, Ebrima Sohna, the Nyassi twins, and even the injury-plagued Momodou Ceesay, commonly known as Zico, are all part of the  team that is training ahead of Sunday’s cracker.

“We have been training for the past week and we hope to do the final selection soon.  I need only 20 players or even less for the Sunday match,” Egyptian coach Tarik Siagy told Observer Sports at his Independence Stadium training ground yesterday.

“Due to the fact that we have too many players to choose from, so the options are wide and I’m optimistic that we will present a good team at the end of the day,” he said.

The Gambia have been pitted in Group 6 along Senegal, Liberia, and Algeria in the 2010 World Cup qualifier campaign. The Scorpions will have their first taste of the qualifiers on May 31, 2008, when they travel to Monrovia, Liberia.

Just a week later, the Scorpions will host in Banjul, the Terenga Lions of Senegal, in what many pundits are seeing as no ordinary cracker.

The Gambia’s third fixture, scheduled between 13-14-15 weekend of June 2008, will see them host another crunch tie in Banjul, when they take on the northerners,  Algeria.

The Gambia’s last qualifier fixture is an away tie to the neighbours, Senegal.

The winners of each group will qualify for the next round, along with the eight best second-placed sides.