Gambian football fans have gone from jeering to cheering their national team, the Scorpions after a string of surprising results in qualifiers for the 2021 African Cup of Nations, a tournament to which they have never qualified.
Just two weeks ago, interest by fans in the Gambian team had been low.
In fact it had been one of total indifference but after stinging Angola 3-1 in Luanda and holding the Democratic Republic of Congo to a 2-2 draw at home, hopes have been rekindled that after all it could be the year of the Scorpions to buck the usual trend and qualify for the Nations Cup for the first time in their history.
At four points after two matches, they top Group D by virtue of a superior goal difference over Gabon who have earned the same points.
The Scorpions have been one of several jinxed sides in West Africa, but after Mauritania made it to the 2019 Cup of Nations in Egypt, The Gambia is left with the dubious distinction of being the only country in the region never having qualified for the continent’s foremost football showpiece.
Even perennial minnows Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau who used to languish in the same footballing wilderness with Gambia have pulled ahead of the Scorpions in recent times.
They have all taken part in the last three editions for the holy grail of African football – Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde gracing it twice and Mauritania once.
But two games have sent the nation to dreamland and the euphoria and sense of expectation around the Scorpions this time round has not been seen for generations since they made it to the qualifying rounds proper after edging past lowly Djibouti on penalties in preliminary qualifiers in October.
This may be less than a month ago but to fans it may feel like an awfully long time since the Scorpions scraped two 1-1 draws against Djibouti and barely made it into the group stage, ensuring them competitive football for at least another year.
This had followed their dismal World Cup qualifier exit to Angola in September.
But true to their nature, fans have short memories and Ebrima Bah one of the tens of thousands of supporters who cheered the home side to a 2-2 draw against DR Congo went from hope to expectation that their team’s good run will continue in September next year when The Gambia play Group D rivals Gabon.
Many Gambian followers of the Scorpions at first thought beating Angola away while too good to be true, felt like a proverbial flash in the pan and nothing more.
But by the time the home game against DR Congo came around on Monday, this guarded optimism had burst into a full season of blooming interest in the national team from quarters who in the past were wont to writing off their chances whenever the Scorpions were in action.
“After so many false dawns in football, perhaps 2021 is the magic year for us” an excited Bah told APA shortly after the match with DR Congo who are ninth in FIFA’s Africa rankings.
He had not attended the Scorpions home games for more than a decade but after their flying start to the qualifiers for Cameroon 2021, Bah said his patriotic fervor has been revived and he would look forward to attending all their matches, home and away if he can afford the time.
Dressed in national colours, another Scorpions fan Alieu Ceesay said he will apply pragmatism in his support for the team.
“As fans of a small footballing nation we have to temper our expectations with a dose of realism” he cautioned, but still proudly waved a small Gambian flag he had taken to the game which took place before a sellout crowd at the Independence Stadium in the coastal town of Bakau, 16km outside the capital Banjul.
At 47th place The Gambia are the lowest ranked team in their group, more than 15 places below Angola (31), 27 beneath Gabon (19) and DR Congo (9).
Although they are third in the group DR Congo are still the bookies favourite to win the group, thanks to their pedigree.
The Congolese had qualified for the Nations Cup 19 times and won the tournament in 1968 and 1974 and carry the discinction of being Africa’s first representatives at a football World Cup in 1974.
Although their fortunes in the continental competition hit an all-time low from 1978 to 1988, the Leopards are a respectable presence to be reckoned with in African football ever since.
Thus going into the game in Banjul, they were favourites to beat the Scorpions whose experience in any major football competition was minimal at best.
The Gambia fielded a new look side to the one that defeated Angola away with striker Assan Cessay the hero in Luanda sitting out the DR Congo game due to a second bookable offence dating back to the match against Djibouti.
Defender Ngine Faye Njie and midfielder Ablie Jallow were unavailable for the Scorpions after picking up knocks in the Angola game.
The Leopards were on course to live up to the form book after scoring an opportunistic goal just before halftime but an equalizer by captain Pa Modou Jagne after the break sent the home fans into delirium.
Although the visitors would score again, to the surprise of many fans Tom Saintfait’s charges dd not buckle but showed character to equalize at the death and reclaimed the driving seat in Group D.
Local football pundits have been pointing to the never-say-die attitude of the team, a character that was conspicuously absent in past Gambian national sides that struggled to win or get humble points from games.
Another new aspect to the Gambian game especially in the last two matches is the Scorpions swashbuckling style against recent opponents, not ceding but instead dominating possession for much of the match against DR Congo and going toe to toe against Angola in Luanda.
Although amidst all this football revelry, local pundits are calling for cautious optimism, this new approach which demands keeping the ball has surprised followers of Gambian football not least the home fans who found a good cause to rally behind the team.
Qualifying to their first Nations Cup may be a long way away but Scorpions fans are basking in the rare satisfaction that their side will top Group D for at least another nine months thanks to a superior goal advantage (5) over Gabon (1) after two rounds of matches.
In the meantime, the football world should get used to an unfamiliar look about Group D and allow Scorpions fans to at least revel in this and live in dreamland over the future of their team.
WN/as/APA