Gambia ended their dismal Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on a high with a narrow 1-nil win over Group A opponents Tunisia in Rhades on Monday.
It was a final scoreline which underlined what would have been had the Scorpions not suffered a 2-1 loss to the Comoros in their penultimate group game three days earlier.
A glanding header by Abdoulie Ceesay, his debut goal for the national side in the first half proved enough to beat the Carthage Eagles who together with Comoros had booked their tickets to the next 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Gambia have failed to qualify in a third consecutive Afcon tournament after their debut in Cameroon in 2022 and their second campaign in Ivory Coast earlier this year.
The Scorpions had reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in Cameroon, beating Mauritania, and Tunisia in the group stage before shocking Guinea Conakry in the round of sixteen.
They had failed to repeat the feat in Ivory Coast where they crashed out without winning a single match against group opponents Senegal, Guinea and Cameroon.
Since 2022, the Scorpions have been playing their home fixtures away from The Gambia thanks to a protracted CAF ban on the Independence Stadium due to poor infrastructure and facilities.
The ban still holds despite a radical facelift thanks to an extensive renovation on the multi-purpose infrastructure which was built in the early 1980s by the Chinese ahd has been hosting music concerts, national parades, political swearing-in ceremonies and trade fairs.
The first and second phases of the renovation works cost a total of D283 million.
An inspection team by CAF earlier this month found that the newly installed grass on the pitch was ‘substandard’ and therefore not good enough to host matches.
Other facilities such as a new medical emergency facility, security fencing, media section and seating had ticked the right boxes for the african football governing body.
CAF said it is designating an expert to advise and monitor works to fix the pitch at no cost to the Gambian sports ministry.
WN/as/APA