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In its first participation in the competition, Gambia qualified for the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations, following its victory on Monday over Guinea 1-0 in the “derby” of West Africa. Gambia joined Burkina Faso and Tunisia, who qualified on Sunday following overtaking Gabon and Nigeria, respectively.
The Gambia team continued its strong performances in its first participation in its history in the finals African Nations Cup Football in Cameroon, following its victory over Guinea 1-0 in the “derby” of West Africa on Monday, to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The “Scorpions” team owes the victory to Bologna’s Italian striker Moussa Barrow, who scored the only goal in the 71st minute.
The Gambian team played the match with ten players in the last minutes, following striker Youssoufa Njie was sent off following receiving two yellow cards (87) following 14 minutes of coming down instead of Roma player Ebrima Darbo, before he sent off Guinea defender Ibrahima Konteh in the third minute of stoppage time.
Historic walk
The Gambia, which is participating in the finals of the African Continental Championship for the first time in its history, has not tasted loss in its first four matches (3 victories and a draw), and it has become the second team in the twenty-first century not to lose any match in the four meetings it is playing in its first participation in the competition, following Madagascar in 2019 (two wins, two draws).
Gambia ranked second in Group F following a surprising victory over Tunisia in the last round of the group stage, similar to Guinea, which finished runner-up to Senegal in the second.
The Gambia joined the “Carthage Eagles” and Burkina Faso, the first to qualify for the quarter-finals on Sunday, at the expense of Nigeria and Gabon, respectively.
Guinea coach Kaba Diawara, in the absence of his captain and Liverpool playmaker, Naby Keita, and the injured French Toulouse player Sylla, adopted a 2-5-3 style with Mohamed Bayo in the lead alongside Jose Kante.
On the other hand, Gambia coach Tom Santveit made four substitutions to the squad, three of which were emergency, minutes before the start of the match, following the English defender Natwich Town, Ibo Toray, born in Liverpool, and Saidi Janko, the Swiss-Italian, born in Zurich, who plays with Villarreal, and Noah Sonko with food poisoning. .
even match
In the first half, the two teams shared the numbers with 50 percent possession of the ball and 5 shots, including one on goal, for each.
The “Scorpions” team fired a surprisingly powerful ball from outside the area from Moussa Barrow, which was narrowly blocked by veteran goalkeeper Ali Keita (13), before the most dangerous opportunity appeared for Guinea in the 38th minute, following a pass from its captain, Italian Roma player Amadou Diawara, to French Clermont striker Mohamed Elamine Bayo inside. The area, to hit a ball that was blocked by the defender and rebounded to him in a second attempt, and goalkeeper Babokar Gay found her on the lookout.
Against 4 shots by Guinea, whose best result remains runner-up in 1976, did not find the goal in the second half. Gambia opened the scoring following a superb pass from Italian Piacenza player Youssoufou Bob to Bologna Barrow striker inside the penalty area, who penetrated and dribbled and shot a ball with his left foot into the net ( 71).
Guinea believed that it had equalized with Ibrahim Conte’s header, but the referee canceled the goal for offending the defender (77), before blocking the post first, then goalkeeper Gay and the Gambian crossbar, the chance of a tie (90 + 2).
FRANCE 24/AFP
