POR - GAM match quotes       Peter Bonu Johnson, Gambia coach:"It was a difficult match as the Portuguese are very experienced. They scored early on and that forced us to change our tactics, which had been to let them come at us. We went on the attack and once we'd equalised we let them take control of midfield and waited for potential chances to counter-attack. My lads adapted well and fought hard to finally get the win. 'Small country, big heart', that's our motto!This is without doubt one of the greatest moments in Gambian football because we weren't able to get past the first round with the Under-17s. The programme we implemented is paying off, we're making progress step-by-step and these players ought to be in the senior team very soon.Work hard, be determined, hope for some luck and believe in your chances - with that philosophy you can overturn any situation. That's why I think that, yes, an African team can win this U-20 World Cup.It was frustrating to lose Ken
 Jammeh to a red card because he's our centre-back and our captain. However, I came here with a whole squad, not just a first 11, so I know his replacement will fit in perfectly."
   
  Jose Couceiro, Portugal coach: "We expected a very tough game because we knew how goodGambia are. They're right up there with the best in Africa. We scored quite quickly and we controlled the play, but their equaliser from the penalty spot came at the worst time for us: just before the break. I think that was the key moment. We began well in the second half but we lost our calm when they scored their second. We'll have to work on that for the future. Having said that, our goal was to qualify and that's what we've done. Leaving out six regulars, including Pele, didn't change anything and I needed to let them rest anyway. On the other hand, I had to make some unplanned changes during the match and that disturbed how the team was playing.I don't worry about the opposition. If it's Spain, it will obviously be a difficult game, but we'll do what we have to do! And, to be honest, the advantage of qualifying as one of the best third-placed teams is that you get an extra day of
 rest."




"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
       
---------------------------------
Need a vacation? Get great deals to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel. 

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤