THE GAMBIA head coach Abdoulie Bojang is confident his team will beat Nigeria’s Flying Eagles to reach the final of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The Young Scorpions stung South Sudan 5-0 in Alexandria on Friday to set up the all-West African semi-final against the seven-time champions.
Bojang clarified that his side’s major aim of qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia has been achieved, with the Flying Eagles now standing in their way as they chase a first continental title.
“Coming into the tournament playing four matches, scoring nine goals without conceding a goal and qualifying for the World Cup I think that’s a big achievement,” Bojand told CAF Online.
“That was our primary objective to qualify for the World Cup that is very important for the team and the country at large.
“Our first target is to qualify for the World Cup which we’ve achieved after the game. This is what I have told the boys. We’ve achieved our first target.”
The tiny West African country were propelled to the semi-finals by Steve Biko FC forward Adama Bojang’s hat-trick, and the coach is expecting the youngster and his teammates to stop Nigeria tomorrow in Cairo.
“We have qualified to the World Cup and to the semi-finals again. Last edition the team were bronze medalists and this time we wanted to improve on that,” the former Scorpions midfielder said.
“The next opponent is Nigeria. It’s a very important game now we have to forget about the South Sudan game.
“We’ve already qualified, now we’re looking for the gold medal but we have to win the Nigeria game so we can reach the final and clinch the gold.
“As I said earlier, we have to take it game by game. The next most important game is Nigeria.”
The semi-final clash is billed for the Cairo International Stadium from 6pm Nigerian time tomorrow.
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