It will be a moment of beating an ugly hoodoo when Gambia takes on Togo as the Scorpions set out to apply the brakes on a 35-year run without winning a game away.
This statistic hovers unpleasantly for a side boasting a blizzard of footballers in some of Europe’s very best leagues.
The not-so-pleasing-to-hear jinx is a thing Belgian gaffer Tom Saintfiet wants to see an end to and has summoned four strikers to get the task sorted.
The previous game against Algeria wrapped up in a 1-1 stalemate at home in Banjul in which saw Serie A Atalanta’s Musa Barrow climbing off the substitutes’ bench in the final minutes.
The 19-year-old, listed as one of the world’s 40 best young players, appears likely to start in Lome and Saintfiet.
The trajectory sparks a healthy fight for a spot in the starting line-up swelling up the Scorpions’ firepower against the Hawks in what promises to be an all-West African derby.
21-goal Ali Sowe, also Albania Super League golden boot winner, returns to the national team for the first time since Tom’s rise to the managerial helm.
Having moved to CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria on a 12-month loan from Chievo Verona of the Serie A, Sowe carries equal potent as the rest of the invited forwards but he must knock FC Zurich’s new signing Assan Ceesay who has been a darling of the fans.
Red-hot Ceesay has netted in all the national team’s last three games beginning with Morocco, Central African Republic and the equalizing goal against Algeria.
It will be almost unfathomable to see him benched for the first forty-five minutes in Togo owing to his terrific run in front of goal.
The ex-Gamtel FC goal assassin is virtually certain to lead Gambia’s quest to end a 35-year winless outing.
Muhammed Badamosi is the other striker to complete the quartet, plying his trade with Morocco’s former league champions FUS Rabat.
The last time the Scorpions won away was in 1983 against Mauritania.
Fascinating about this tie is coach Tom squaring up against Togo, a side he spurred to the Africa Cup of Nations not long ago.
He cut an optimistic man and spoke of breaking an unprepossessing streak during his squad’s unveiling for the first of a double-legged Africa Cup of Nations 2019 episode.
