Gambia to play Mauritania friendlies

Gambia local-based team

The Gambia national football team will play two friendly matches against its Mauritanian counterparts on 27th February and 2nd March at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

The matches are being used by the Gambian team to prepare for its next match against Ivory Coast in the qualifying series for the 2014 FIFA World Cup slated for Brazil.

Gambian coach Bye Malleh Wadda hopes to beat the drop in Kenya

Bye Malleh Wadda

Gambian coach Bye Malleh Wadda is confident his Kenyan Premier League side Nairobi City Stars will make the top eight in the Premier League.

The Stars are hoping to be able to avoid the relegation places in the coming season and according to their Gambian head coach, they are in good shape for the challenge.

How 3 Gambian players missed out on Chelsea deal

Zico Ceesay

Soon after the 2005 Under-17 World Cup in Peru, one of the best outings any Gambian team had in major competitions, some of the most outstanding players in that tourney in fact moved very close to becoming millionaires and English Premiership stars.

Though there were strong rumours about the heights the Gambian players scaled after that tourney, it has just been disclosed in detail how close they came to hitting the jackpot.

Manneh’s double leads Whitecaps past Baresi’s Battery

Kekuta Manneh scores against the Charleston Battery

Gambian striker Kekuta Manneh’s double and a brilliant second-half volley from Daigo Kobayashi proved enough for Vancouver Whitecaps FC as they held off hosts Charleston Battery in their opening match of the 2013 Carolina Challenge Cup.

Kekuta Manneh may only be 18 years old, but he keeps earning preseason starts for Vancouver and on Saturday night he scored his first two goals in a Whitecaps jersey to pace his team to a 3-2 over Amadou ‘Baresi’ Sanyang’s Charleston Battery at Blackbaud Stadium.

Sawaneh opens 2013 account by netting goal number seventeen

Striker Ibou Sawaneh

Gambia international striker Ibou Sawaneh opened his 2013 scoring account over the weekend in OH Leuven’s 1-1 draw at home against Beerschot AC.

These two sides who had both been lacking a bit of form lately and firepower met at the Stadion Den Dreef in Heverlee.

Omar ‘Waterman’ Jasseh in Werder Bremen trials

Omar 'Waterman' Jasseh on trial at Werder Bremen

German Bundesliga club SV Werder Bremen have taken Gambian midfielder Omar ‘Waterman’ Jasseh on trial, this blog can exclusively reveal.

The 20-year-old has been without a club since he was waived by the San Jose Earthquakes on July 19, 2011 during the summer transfer period in the Major League Soccer.

Hamang Conteh’s brace earns Gamtel advantage over ASC HLM

Gamtel

Hamang Conteh gave Gamtel a precious 2-1 advantage over Senegalese club ASC HLM on Sunday at the Box Bar mini stadium in Brikama, in the first leg preliminary round of the 10th edition of Africa’s secondary club football competition organized by CAF.

Hamang marked his name twice on the score sheet for Gamtel in the 55th and 88th minute respectively to give the Telecommunication Boys a convincing 2-1 home victory over the Senegalese second division side ASC HLM and Alioun Faal pulled one back for them in the 71st minute through a header.

Dawda Bah in Serbia for trials with Vojvodina

Injury-ravaged Dawda Bah

Injury-ravaged Gambia international Dawda Bah is reported to be having trials in Serbia with a top club FK Vojvodina Novi Sad.

The club is currently fourth in the Serbian SuperLiga, nine points off the leaders, FK Partizan Belgrade.

FUS de Rabat snatches late victory over Real de Banjul

Real de Banjul

Gambia Champions Real de Banjul fought bravely before succumbing to a first leg defeat in the qualifiers of the 2013 Orange CAF Champions League preliminary round against Moroccan side Fath Union Sport de Rabat.

FUS de Rabat left it late to secure a 1-0 home victory over Champions Real de Banjul as the qualifiers kicked off on Friday.

Real de Banjul begins Champions League adventure tonight

Real de Banjul at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium,

Gambian champions Real de Banjul will tonight take on 2011/12 Moroccan Botola Pro runners-up Fath Union Sport de Rabat at the 52,000 capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

Real de Banjul left the country for Morocco on Wednesday morning for the first leg tie of the preliminary round schedule for Friday 15th with the match set to kick-off at 19:00 GMT.

Gamtel hosts ASC HLM in Confederation Cup qualifiers

Gamtel FC

Gambia FA Cup champions Gamtel will this weekend welcome Senegalese FA Cup winners Association Sportive et Culturelle HLM for the first leg of the 2013 CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round qualifiers.

The three-time FA Cup champions will host their Senegalese counterparts on Sunday in a match scheduled at the Brikama Box Bar mini stadium with kickoff time set for 16:30 GMT.

Gambia drops in FIFA ranking

Scorpions of The Gambia

Gambia have dropped two places on the monthly FIFA World Ranking table with the changes influenced by the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

The Scorpions are now ranked 145th on the overall table released today as the February edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking showed major changes.

Muzzy’s Middlesbrough secures first win of the year

Mustapha Carayol

Gambia-hopeful Mustapha Carayol’s Middlesbrough stopped the rot for 2013 as a solitary goal on a dramatic night brought their first league win for the year and their first victory over Leeds United at the Riverside Stadium.

Boro had failed to pick up a point in the New Year before Tuesday and had seen their play-off place come under increasing threat from a number of chasing clubs.

Sawaneh fire blank as Leuven fall

Ibou Sawaneh

Gambia international striker Ibou Sawaneh was once again kept off the score sheet as Club Brugge came from behind to beat his side, OH Leuven 3-1 at the Jan Breydelstadion.

Karel Geraerts opened the scoring for Leuven on 50 minutes before goals from Maxime Lestienne and Lior Refaelov in the 62nd and 66th minutes respectively turned the game in Brugge’s favour.

Carayol’s goal not enough as Boro’s losing run extended

Mustapha Carayol

Gambian Mustapha Carayol scored on his comeback but it wasn’t enough as Middlesbrough crashed to a fifth straight Championship loss as Barnsley helped themselves to a 3-2 victory at the Riverside.

Carayol was back in first team action for the first time since September 21, one of three changes from the side that lost at Ipswich.

FC Kairat signs striker Zico Ceesay

Momodou 'Zico' Ceesay

Kazakhstan Premier League side FC Kairat Almaty have signed Gambia international striker Momodou ‘Zico’ Ceesay from Slovakian club MŠK Žilina, this blog can reveal.

The 24-year-old attacker joined the Kazakh club on a three-year-contract with an option to extend.

Matthew sent off in Balzan’s defeat to Hibernians

Matthew Mendy

Gambia defender Matthew Mendy was sent off in Balzan’s 2-0 loss to Hibernians which resulted to their hopes of making it to the Promotion Pool fading away.

It looked like being a tricky match for the Paolites before kick-off, against opponents still with a slim chance to land a place in the Championship Pool.

Sawaneh’s Leuven edge Charleroi

Ibou Sawaneh

Gambia international striker Ibou Sawaneh and his Belgian side OH Leuven garnered a 1-0 win over Sporting Charleroi at the Stadion Den Dreef.

Recent performances of Sawaneh’s Leuven were really terrible as they haven't scored a victory in 11 consecutive league games which made the whole team frustrated.

Gambian referee Papa Gassama to handle Mali and Nigeria match

Bakary Papa Gassama 

Gambian referee Bakary Papa Gassama has been appointed by the Confederation of African Football to officiate the semi-final match of the African Cup of Nations between Mali and Nigeria on Wednesday at 15:00 GMT.

The 35-year-old Gambian referee will be assisted by Angesom Ogbamariam from Eritrea and Felicien Kabanda of Rwanda.

Toubabo’s Mons cruise to victory

Mustapha 'Toubabo' Jarju

Gambia international midfielder Mustapha ‘Toubabo’ Jarju’s RAEC Mons had to wait until the final quarter of an hour to wrap up their 3-0 victory over Waasland-Beveren at the Stade Charles Tondreau.

French defender Gregory Lorenzi made it 1-0 from the spot in the 36th minute but the home side failed to double their lead until 12 minutes from time when Thomas Chatelle scored after being set up by Peter Franquart.

Ipswich thumps Carayol’s Middlesbrough

Muzzy Carayol

Mustapha Carayol’s Middlesbrough hopes of achieving promotion this season took another hit after they slumped to their fourth league defeat of 2013 against Ipswich Town.

In the Boro ranks was Muzzy Carayol who had to settle for a place on the bench for the first time since the end of September. It has been a long road back for the former Bristol Rovers man, who reported no reaction to his 58-minute workout for the U21 at Chelsea eight days ago; his only match action since Boro won at Blackburn.

Trelleborgs snaps up Dawda Ngum

Mad Beck

Swedish Division 1 [third tier] side, Trelleborgs FF, have completed the signing of Gambian midfielder Dawda Ngum, this blog can exclusively reveal.

The 22-year-old midfielder revealed to this blog that he signed a two-year contract with the Trelleborg-based side joining them from Division 2 Södra Götaland side BK Olympic.

Daddy Gai joins Kuwait’s Al Tadamun

Daddy Gai

Gambia international striker Pa Amadou Gai has left local club Bakau United to join Kuwaiti Division One [second-tier] side Al Tadamun SC, this blog can reveal.

The former Montreal Impact, ASC HLM and Bakau United goal poacher signed a permanent deal with the Division One leaders.

Carayol could be back against Ipswich

Mustapha Carayol
Copyright: www.mfc.co.uk

Gambian Mustapha Carayol could make his long-awaited return to action when Middlesbrough visits Ipswich Town on Saturday, head coach Tony Mowbray told the club’s official website.

The speedy Gambian winger has been out of action since injuring his knee at the end of September but played an hour for the U21 side against Chelsea last Friday.

Manneh’s Whitecaps edge Sainey’s New England in pre-season friendly

Kekuta Manneh

The Vancouver Whitecaps of Kekuta Manneh kicked off their 2013 preseason schedule with a bang, defeating Sainey Nyassi’s Eastern Conference side New England Revolution 4-1 at Grande Sports World in Casa Grande, Arizona.

It took just over a minute for the Jamaican striker Darren Mattocks to strike with his first goal. One of Vancouver’s two first round picks from the SuperDraft earlier this month, Kekuta Manneh spotted Mattocks with a pass and he buried it to open the scoring.