Tom Saintfiet Head Coach of Gambian national team, is confident his side will qualify to the knockout stages despite going pointless after two matches in the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
“We’re still alive, the situation just got more complicated.”
“We can still qualify with three points in our next game,” insisted the Scorpions’ boss.
“We haven’t scored yet so to win we have to find goals against Cameroon,” he said.
The Belgian reiterated he never called Guinea the group’s weakest side, stating:
“The weakest in Group C is Gambia, Guinea are the most dangerous,” he noted in a press conference after the match.
Saintfiet, however, conceded Guinea were better in the first half before Gambia improved after the break.
“In the first half Guinea were stronger but in the second period we raised our level more,” the Belgian stated.
“I’ll stay positive because we did it against a difficult, quality team like Guinea.”
Saintfiet felt Gambia created openings and were unfortunate to have a goal disallowed before Guinea’s winner.
“The goal against us was unexpected. I thanked the players because I can’t speak negatively about the team I lead,” he added.
Saintfiet identified scoring goals as key to beating Cameroon in their final group
match.
Despite the odds, Saintfiet retains belief his side can pull off a famous upset to reach the AFCON knockouts.
GNA
WE
20 Jan. 2024
