By Lamin Cham
A historic match between The Gambia and Senegal kicking off this afternoon at the Africa Cup of Nations has already generated tons of excitement across the common border with each nation’s fans teasing one and another. Both captains said the contest is between ‘cousins.’
But this first encounter between the two countries at Afcon comes awkwardly too soon in the tournament for both side’s desire to keep the kingship further than rhetoric.
Senegal are current champions and the last thing the Teranga Lions will take is a loss to their tiny neighbour. No surprise Captain Koulibaly called it a final. “I want to win this match. I learned from history that they last won us in 1962. So we are playing this game as a final and we are ready for the battle and ready to win our ‘cousins’,” he told a packed pre-match press conference in Yamoussoukro yesterday.
The Gambia on the other hand is not afraid. “We are not afraid to play the best of teams in this tournament. There are two lions in our group, from Senegal and Cameroon but after our oxygen-less journey on the plane, the Scorpions have got much more poisonous so, they better watch us,” the Belgian, guiding The Gambia to second Afcon, said.
Key players missing
Coach Tom Saintfiet added fire to the fans’ worry by announcing that poster boy Yankuba Minteh could miss the crucial opening match due to a slight injury sustained during training on Saturday. He did not give further details but Minteh’s absence, added to those of Ablie Jallow and Ebrima Colley to suspensions, is not assuring.
The coach however is sure that there are other quality players such as Alieu Fadera ready to fill the void.
See Sport page for a preview of the match
