Gambia Belgian coach eyes progress
Belgian coach eyes progress for West Africans
Despite twice winning the Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations and beating Brazil 3-1 at the Under-17 World Cup in 2005, until last year Gambia had not won a competitive away game at senior level. But under Tom Saintfiet all that is changing.
After an impressive 3-1 win in Angola gave his team a flying start in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers, the Belgian coach says: “Before I came the team had not won a senior match in five years. When I came I made discipline on the pitch so the players understand what they need to get results.”
Such performances are finally getting the locals behind their national team and a crowd of 40,000 – the biggest for a game in the country – crammed into the 25,000-capacity Independence Stadium for a 1-1 draw with Algeria in September 2018.
“This is our time,” says defender Pa Modou Jagne. “Tactically, we are more disciplined and everyone is sticking to the game plan we are given. Before it was not like that.”
Jagne, who is with Zurich in Switzerland, is one of more than 60 Gambians playing in Europe, while not a single player in Saintfiet’s squad plays domestically. The coach explains: “Players get $40 to $50 a month in the Gambian league, which only runs from December to April. It’s very difficult to live on that so if you can live from football you go abroad.”
Just getting a contract abroad is viewed as an achievement and many do not push on to match such as Jagne, who has carved out a decade long-career in Switzerland. Mattar M’Boge, who is coach of Gambia’s under17 and under-20 teams, says: “There is a mentality of our players that once they are on $5,000 a month or whatever they have made it. Some players like Pa Modou push themselves to the highest level but a lot don’t.”
Saintfiet marshals his team based on resources, and his style of playing deep and hitting opponents on the counter-attack has brought some impressive results. A 1-0 friendly win away to Morocco in June was followed by the victory in Angola and a 2-2 draw with DR Congo that put Gambia on top of their AFCON 2021 qualifying group. However, not everyone likes their team’s style of football.
“The public want us to play attacking football like Barcelona,” says M’Boge. “Tom has been criticised for playing counter-attacking football but he wants to get us qualified. The tactics suit the team.”
Gambia have never qualified for a senior AFCON tournament and M’Boge has no doubt that qualifying for next year’s finals in Cameroon would be profound, adding: “People think there is a curse, that we will never get to an AFCON, but if they can turn on the TV and see our team at an AFCON it will change everyone’s mentality.”
Gambia’s destiny will be decided by home and away qualifiers with Gabon in March. “We need three points and have the chance to get the results but it won’t be easy,” says the much-travelled Saintfiet who, after often brief appointments elsewhere, is relishing the challenge with Gambia.