By Arfang M.S. Camara
Scorpions Captain Omar Colley declared that they are going to do their best to qualify for the next Africa Cup of Nations, after doing very well during their maiden Afcon tournament in Cameroon.
The senior national team Captain Omar Colley was speaking during the post-match press conference held at the Stade Lat Dior in Thies, Senegal on Saturday, after The Gambia beat South Sudan 1-0 during their first Afcon qualifiers Group G game.
“The goal of the team is to go for the next Afcon tournament, even though pressure is part of football. We have to play game by game. We are still humble and we are still The Gambia (a small country). This is why we always respect our opponents,” he further said.
According to him, they are team Gambia not Senegal or Algeria, even though they qualified for the last Afcon tournament and reached the quarterfinals.
Captain Colley who plays his football in the Italian Serie A for Sampdoria, added that reaching the Afcon quarterfinals doesn’t mean that they are number one in Africa, noting that they are still The Gambia and are still growing.
“Obviously, we feel a little bit pressured because we did very well in the last Afcon. We want to go for the next one and do more history for The Gambia. Pressure is part of football but at the same time we know ourselves and know what we want to do.”
Asked about how he feels to be favourite with the expectation to be back in the Afcon tournament, he responded saying, “I don’t think we are favourites. With due respect to South Sudan. We’ve seen how they played.”
He continued “The last Afcon qualification, we played against Djibouti and struggled. We beat Angola and Gabon and made it to the Afcon without being favourite. This is African football and every country has their own moments. So I think this is our moment, this is why we always want to get a positive result when playing at home.”
