By: Alagie Cherno Suwareh
The Gambia’s female football team has departed for Morocco in preparation for their upcoming match against Namibia in the Africa Women Cup of Nations second-round qualifiers for 2024. The team were scheduled to arrive in Rabat via Casablanca through Air Morocco at 6:50 am on September 18, 2023.
The Female Scorpions are set to commence their campaign on September 21st at the Complexe Sportif Prince Heritier Moulay Al Hassan in Rabat, Morocco. They will face off again three days later, on September 24th, at the same venue,” according to a statement from the Gambia Football Federation (GFF).
After four months of intensive training, the female team is eager to bounce back from a 6-1 defeat against the Moroccan team. They also aim to recover from losses in two previous matches. In contrast, Namibia has a strong track record against Gambia’s female team, with one win and one draw in their two previous encounters. Namibia recently turned their form around after losing two matches, securing a win and a draw in their most recent fixtures.
This upcoming match marks the debut for Gambian-born coach Yaya Manneh, who was appointed shortly after serving as the assistant head coach for The Gambia U20 team in the recently concluded U20 World Cup and Afcon U20 Cup.
In an interview with TFN reporter Alagie Cherno, Coach Yaya expressed the team’s readiness to compete, stating, “Despite not receiving the respect we deserve based on our previous records, the team is prepared and determined to secure maximum points against our opponents.”
Should the new coach manage to secure victories for the Female Scorpions in both matches against Namibia, it would be a significant achievement. Prior to his arrival, the team suffered an 8-0 and a 2-1 defeat against Cameroon in both legs, along with an embarrassing 7-1 loss to the Moroccan team in the same competition.
