AFCON: Gambia’s Fairytale Campaign Ends, As Cameroon Books Semi Final Ticket

By Akinwale Kasali

The Scorpion of Gambia Footballers were crestfallen as the Burundian Center referee, Pacifique Ndabihawenimana, signaled the end of the Quarter Final match between the debutants (Gambia) and host, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon at the Japoma Stadium, Douala, Cameroon.

But the Coach Tom Saintfeit of Gambia team bowed out of the tournament with their heads high, having made a statement that despite this being their first outing, they are no pushovers.

The Gambia Capital, Banjul, will be waiting to receive the heroes of the AFCON tournament for making the coin proud.

A Karl Toko Ekambi brace was all the Coach Sergio Concencaio Indomitable Lions needed to scale the Gambian hurdle and book a place in the Semi Final, where it would play the winner of the Quarter Final match between the Atlas Lion of Morocco and the Pharaohs of Egypt slated for Sunday January 30th, 2022.

The Gambians were complacent in their game against the host, as they lost their rhythm as exhibited in their previous match.

There was no cohesion and compactness in the team. The Cameroonian team dictated the pace and the flow of the game.

It took the intervention of Aboubakar Gaye behind the stick for the Gambians to salvage a goalless draw for the debutants in the first half of the match.

Upon resumption of the second half, a superb cross from Collins Fai met  Ekambi, who rose above the Gambian defenders to nod in the opening goal of the match.

Seven minutes later, Ekambi was in the right position to tap in a cross from the left side to record his brace of the match and his Fifth goal of the tournament. He is, now, just a goal behind the tournament’s top scorer, Vincent Aboubakar who so far, has scored six goals.

Aboubakar failed to add to his tally as he was denied on three occasions by  Gaye in the Gambian goal.

The Gambian failed to exchange good string of passes as it has done in previous Four games in the championship.

With the defeat, Gambian is out of the tournament and would go back to the drawing board in preparation for the 2023 AFCON tournament scheduled for Côte d’Ivoire in 16 months time.

In the other Quarter Final of the day, the Stallions of Burkina Faso defeated the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia 1-0, courtesy of Dango Ouattara to dump the North African team out of the tournament.

Tunisia had surprisingly knocked out tournament favourite, the Super Eagles of Nigeria out of the Championship.

With the defeat, the Tunisian side will be preparing for its Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification playoffs against the Eagles of Mali.

Burkina Faso awaits the winner of the Quarter Final match between the Teranga Lions of Senegal and the National Thunder of Equatorial Guinea for their Semi Final clash.