By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The Gambia Under-20 team will receive a heroic and exuberant welcome back in the country today at 6 p.m. following their exit from what was a terrific group stage performance in the FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina.
Despite a stunning performance in the group stages where they finished as Group F winners, the Young Scorpions crashed out of the competition on Thursday with a one-nil defeat at the hands of their Uruguayan counterparts.
Coach Abdoulie Bojang and his array of youngsters are on a roller coaster of good performances, but the fairy tale in the World Cup could not go beyond the round of 16.
The last time The Gambia participated in the World Cup in 2007, the team failed to progress to the quarterfinals, a hurdle this crop of players could not go beyond despite high hopes of them recording a feat in the competition that has never happened before in the annals of the Gambia’s football history.
Precarious wonderkid Adama Bojang, as anticipated before the start of the World Cup, had an incredible start to the tournament, scoring a double in the first game against Honduras but faded in the remaining games although he had a decent game against France.
This crop of players, 99% of them homegrown, had a historic participation in the Africa U20 Cup of Nations and a decent U20 World Cup, emerging as group winners in Group F with a supreme on-the-pitch performance.
The Gambia Football Federation, the body responsible for the governance of football in the country, announced that as a show of appreciation to the Young Scorpions, they will organize a welcoming ceremony for the players and the delegation when they land in the country at 6 p.m. this evening.
According to the federation, after the normal airport procedures, the team will take off through Lamin-Tabokoto to West Field and then use Kairaba Avenue to the football house in Kanifing.
The national scorpion fan club is expected to accompany the team. Gambian football fans are all expected to fill the street in shaping support to coach Abdoulie Bojang and his team for a great performance in Argentina.
