For the first time since its introduction three editions ago, the Gambia will not take part in the finals of the Caf schools football championship.
The country’s representatives could only finish in third place in both the boys and girls categories in the recent qualifiers for Wafu Zone-A played in Banjul last week.
The qualifiers, held alongside meetings attended by representatives from the zone were hosted at the the Gambinos Stars Africa Complex in Mandinaring and QCity respectively.
The boy’s school team from The Gambia beat Mauritania 4-2 in a dramatic penalty shootout following an entertaining goalless draw in regulation time in the third and fourth place playoff match. After a perfect group stage campaign, the Gambia narrowly lost 1-0 to eventual champions Senegal in the semifinals.
In the girls category, The Gambia again settled for a third place finish following a hard-fought 1-0 defeat to Senegal in the final game. Gambian Penda Saidou though finished on top of the goal scoring chat.
Meanwhile, the Gambian boys and girls each received bronze medals and a cheque for fifty thousand dollars from the Motseppe Foundation, which comes in the form of projects.
As events on the pitch concluded in grand style, focused turned to the Qcity Hall, where more than a hundred participants from the different workshops held on the sidelines of the football competition gathered in a colourful ceremony to be presented with certificates by our Gambia Football president Lamin Kaba Bajo, who is also the president of WAFU-A.
The five- day event left a lasting impression on all participants as their memorable adventure in the Smiling Coast of Africa brought so many fond memories and knowledge. In the previous editions, The Gambia represented by ScanAid and Old Yundum schools, won big prices in the form of development projects in their schools
