Kick off 14hrs
Preview, team news, lineups
By Devesh Jaganath
The penultimate game week four fixture in Group A of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers will see Gambia take on Madagascar at Stade Ben Ahmed El Abdi on this afternoon.
These two locked horns just three days ago in Casablanca and played out a 1-1 draw, with both goals coming deep in stoppage time at the end of each half.
Gambia went into last week’s match as the marginal favourites and dominated the game from the first whistle, but despite managing 22 shots at goal, it took virtually the final kick of the game for them to find the back of the net.
The man responsible for sparing the Scorpions’ blushes was Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yankuba Minteh, who netted in the seventh minute of added time beyond the 90, to cancel out Clement Couturier’s opener in the second minute of stoppage time at the end of the first period.
Adding to the disappointment for Johnny McKinstry last week was seeing Comoros pull off an against-the-odds victory over Tunisia in Rades, meaning that a defeat for his side here will result in them needing to beat both of the aforementioned in their final two matches of the group to have a chance of finishing in the top two.
Of course, it does not help matters that due to the stadiums in Gambia failing to meet Fifa standards, McKinstry’s side is forced to play their ‘home’ games at a neutral venue, in this case, Morocco.
Still, the two positives for the Scorpions’ new boss are that his side have only been beaten by Gabon and Tunisia since his arrival (W1 D2 L2), and they have also found the net in each of his first five matches in charge.
Meanwhile, Madagascar have arguably been a tad unlucky to still be at the bottom of the table, as they have proven that while they may not be the most attacking team around, they are certainly a tough side to beat.
Madagascar’s major issue has been their tendency to drop points from solid positions, having now done so in all three matches in this competition.
Last week was the second time Barea experienced heartbreak in stoppage time in this competition, having suffered the same fate in their opening game against Tunisia, while on matchday two, they took an early lead against Comoros but conceded just before the interval and had to settle for a point.
However, under the guidance of Romuald Rakotondrabe, there has undoubtedly been a major improvement, as the side have only lost three of their last 10 games (W4 D3 L3), with those defeats coming against formidable opponents in Ghana, Rwanda and Tunisia.
Team News
Minteh has been the main man for Gambia in recent times, playing a role in three of the last four goals the side have scored, including tucking away two himself while setting up Ali Sowe against Tunisia.
The Brighton attacker will almost certainly feature from the start this week, while McKinstry may be tempted to bring Musa Barrow back into the starting 11 after a fairly underwhelming performance from Muhammed Badamosi last time out.
Madagascar
For Madagascar, Nicolas Fontaine is likely to return to the starting lineup this week to partner Louis Demoleon in central defence, while Radoniaina Rabemanantsoa and Kenji-Van Boto should keep their spots at full-back.
Marco Ilaimaharitra made an impressive cameo off the bench and could be handed a start, potentially for teenager El Hadari Raheriniaina, in which case Rakotondrabe may revert to a 4-4-2 with Warren Caddy and Ryan Ponti leading the line.
Gambia possible starting lineup:
Jarju; Ceesay, Gomez, Colley, Touray; Khan, Adams, Sowe, Jallow, Minteh; Barrow
Madagascar possible starting lineup:
Madagascar possible starting lineup:
Laiton; Rabemanantsoa, Demoleon, Fontaine, Boto; Raveloson, Amada, Couturier, Ilaimaharitra; Caddy,
Prediction
While Gambia dominated play in the last match, Madagascar have proven time and again of late that they are a difficult side to defeat. There was nothing to separate these two at the final whistle last week and we are expecting the same outcome in this one.
Sportsmole
