News Details

Mattar M’Boge: We call it the group of life

  • January 26,2021
  • Momodou Bah
  • Gambia coach Mattar M’Boge says his boys have been drawn in the ‘group of life’ following the draw of the Total U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, Mauritania 2021.

  • The Young Scorpions were drawn in Group C alongside top seed and former FIFA U-20 World Cup champions Ghana, as well as Tanzania and Morocco.

    M’Boge masterminded the Gambia’s return to the tournament by winning the WAFU A qualifying tournament against hosts Senegal in November 2020 after missing out on the last four editions. The Young Scorpions have not appeared in the championship for a decade after their group stage exit in South Africa 2011.

    "For us it's a fair draw, instead of calling it the group of death, we call it the group of life because whenever you play against any of these teams you going to be so energized, you going to be so motivated to put on a good show,” M’Boge told Sjag.gm.


    "I think if people were to assess and call it the most difficult group, I would agree with it because you have the champions of WAFU A (Gambia), the champions of WAFU B (Ghana) and also the North African champions (Morocco) and Tanzania came second in the East African zone.

    "We know that Ghana they've a huge pedigree at youth level, they're the only African team to have won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in fact.

    "We know Morocco, we know the level of football they're going through; they're one of the biggest countries in African football.

    "Everybody in Ghana is going to be watching the games, everyone in Morocco too; they're going to be very well followed the same in Tanzania; these are all footballing hot beds,” said the young Gambian coach.

    M’Boge’s attacking football philosophy has won him a lot of praise and support back home and he relishes the challenge against big countries like Ghana and Morocco.   

    “Football is huge in all those countries just like it is here so it's a big opportunity, that's all we're looking at. It’s a positive mind set as I said it's a big, big opportunity for all of us and the players know definitely.

     “These are things that bowl very well for us and hopefully we will take the confidence and the good feeling into the tournament itself.”


    PRESENCE OF LEGENDS 


    Cameroon legend Emmanuel Maboang assisted CAF Head of Competitions; Khaled Nasser to conduct the draw and Mattar was delighted to see the legends at the ceremony.

    "We're very happy with the draw, with everything CAF did in terms of inviting the legends there,” said M’Boge.



    "It was held in Cameroon at the same time as the CHAN tournament, all the CAF big guns were there, so that shows you the level of importance that they've attached to the tournament.

    "It is at junior level, yes U-20 level, but the legends that CAF invited they were the ones who also said, that's where they started their careers.

    "That's where they really made their mark in world and international football so the same opportunity is there for the boys, we just want to make sure we go there and grab these opportunities with both hands.”

    The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) is expected to have the team camp in Morocco before they travel to Nouadhibou where they will play all their group matches.


    "My phone has been going off ever since the draw was made this morning with interviews and reactions, talking with people about the plans and our training camp.

    "We've been inundated with offers so we're trying to close out our training camp; this is the final phase of preparations that we are on.

    "We have a memorandum of understanding with Morocco even though we are going to face them.

    "There are a few teams who like us and will hopefully be meeting in Morocco. We can have a few fixtures before the tournament.

    "We've been offered three games; it will be absolutely amazing if we can get those three games but a minimum of two matches with different opponents will be good for us.

    "Our first game is three weeks from tomorrow (16 February 2021), it's not a whole lot of time but it's still good enough time to get everyone together and make sure that the squad is fine tuned. So as I said we go to the tournament and represent the country as best we can.”


    FOREIGN BASED PLAYERS 


    The former Real de Banjul manager is hoping to add some of the country’s exciting overseas talent to his ranks before their pre-tournament training camp in Morocco.

    FUS Rabat attacker Pa Modou Sohna is out due to injury but captain James Gomez of Danish side AC Horsens and Serie A duo Ebrima Darboe of AS Roma and Bologna’s Musa Juwara are all eligible for the tournament which will be played from between 14 February 2021 to 4 March 2021.



     "We got a few players who are playing outside of the Gambia and there's no reason to penalize them just because they're not playing in this country, they should also be given the chance to impress.

    "We've called a few they've come today and there are a few more outside, as well as foreign based players so we will be unveiling the squad imminently. We are just negotiating with some of the clubs in terms of the release of the players.

    "We just want to make sure everything is okay with the travel restrictions and they will be able to travel with us to Morocco and Mauritania,” he concluded.