The moment many football supporters in The Gambia have been waiting for eventually arrives as the Gambia national scorpions head coach Tom Saintfiet makes the ultimate call up ahead of the January Africa Nations cup in Cameroon.
The coach who initially released a provisional squad of 40 players, finally completed the trimming as he named a final 28 man squad that will be representing the Scorpions in a championship set to start on January 9th.
The ultimate lineup saw many notable names making the cut, but there were some absentees fans are demanding a reason for their exclusion.
Tom who has been on the receiving end of endless criticism for his mode of team selection, once again hit the spotlight when he failed to include Abdoulie Sanyang and Alasana Manneh both of whom had a bright campaign during and after the qualifiers.
Others believe without the critics, Tom will have left behind veteran players like captain Pa Modou Jagne, goalkeeper Modou Jobe and midfielder Ebrima Sohna all of whom played a crucial role in the Scorpions attainment of their first AFCON breakthrough. But the veterans were all included.
The list also included former Man United Youngster Saidy Janko, Assan Ceesay, Musa Barrow and Omar Colley who recently celebrated a centenary of appearance for his Sampdoria side.
The lethal Ali Sowe has once again been left out, a decision that can’t be clearly explained by the coach nor the football federation.
The 28 man squad will first camp in Qatar, where they are set to play AFCON title holders Algeria and Syria in warm-up games ahead of the continental showpiece.
