Congratulations to the Baby scorpions!!

Momodou Camara
The following is culled from:
http://www.fifa.com/en/news/feature/0,1451,109635,00.html

FIFA U-17 World Championship
Gambia stun defending champs Brazil (1:3)



(FIFA.com) 17 Sep 2005

African champions Gambia pulled off a stunning, but deserved victory over
tournament holders Brazil in Group D of the FIFA U-17 World Championship
Peru 2005 at the shell-shocked Miguel Grau Stadium, Piura.
Gambia coach Fred Osam Duodu promised a surprise beforehand and pledged
that his players would have no complexes about taking on the mighty
Brazilians with all their dazzling skills and daunting reputation. From
the outset, looking at the sheer power and physical presence of his
impressive team, it was easy to see why.

Duodu hailed the result as a great night for African football and said his
players had "learned to live with kings", but pledged that his side must
not get carried away with one victory. He said: "This win does not make us
any kind of favourites at all. Our first priority is to cross the bridge
to qualification for the quarter-finals and then try to get into the medal
zone from there."

Their giant striker Momodou Ceesay was a constant menace up front and
standing just five centimetres shy of two metres' tall, Brazil will not
have come up against the likes of him too often. That repeatedly showed as
they struggled to cope with Ceesay and the watching scouts from around the
world will have written his name in their notebooks for sure.

It was Brazil who took the lead however, to no-one's great surprise, but
when the goal came it really was something quite spectacular. Leyrielton
supplied the cross and Igor rounded off a flowing move with a special,
acrobatic volley that had the Peruvian crowd gasping in admiration (1:0,
23')… but Brazil's lead was short-lived.

Gambia's Abdoulie Mansally got the leveller, turning one way then the
other before drilling the ball past Felipe to spark a sensational turn of
events (1:1, 27').



Gambians grow in confidence
That goal gave Gambia the belief they needed to take the game to Brazil
and Ceesay fired the African champions in front in first-half stoppage
time, skipping through the Brazilian back-line and firing low into the
corner from an acute angle (1:2, 45').
If Brazil forged a masterplan to get back into the game at half-time, it
would not have included going down to 10 men five minutes after the
restart as Marcelo was shown a straight red card for a foul on Tijan
Jaiteh.

Brazil were always going to be up against it from that point on, though
Gambia defender Mandou Bojang almost gave them a helping hand with a
beautiful diving header that came ever so close to being a very graceful
own goal.

Gambia, made sure they stretched Brazil across the park as much as they
could with a slick passing game that had the Piuran fans crying "olé" in
appreciation. The script was not supposed to read like this and goalscorer
Leyrielton sliced horribly wide for Brazil when in a good position as they
toiled hard to bring about a change in these unexpected fortunes.

Gambian captain Ousman Jallow could have put the matter beyond reasonable
doubt if he had done better while unmarked in the box, but there was too
much pace on Ceesay's centre and he could only steer his awkward-looking
volley over the top.

Jallow was not to be denied though and when Gambia were awarded a penalty
in the 75th minute, the skipper had no hesitation in picking up the ball
to carry out his duty. Felipe was equal to his effort though, diving well
to his left to palm the ball away, but the referee's assistant flagged to
signal that the goalkeeper moved off his line before the kick was taken.

At the second time of asking, Jallow made no mistake and flicked the
penalty into the opposite corner, just beyond Felipe's desperate lunge
(1:3, 75').

A reckless challenge by Gambian defender Ebrima Sohna earned him the
second red card of the match and the Africans were forced to play out the
final 10 minutes short-handed.

Brazil finished the match with nine men and in total disarray however when
Celso was sent off for an ugly elbowing incident. Gambia matched them for
sheer numbers though when Saja Leigh became the fourth player to be
dismissed as the clock ticked down.

This shock result leaves Brazil with a mountain to climb to qualify for
the quarter-finals and with Holland their next opponents in Piura on
Tuesday, that difficult task looks anything but straight-forward.

Brazil coach Nelson Rodrigues said: "Gambia had a plan to play high balls
over the top of our defenders and we had a plan to play with speed. They
succeeded with their plan and we didn't with ours. This was always
the 'Group of Death' and my players were prepared for it to be difficult,
so I will not have any problems picking them up for the next game."

For Gambia, they can look forward to an encounter with Qatar on the same
night and they seem certain to be welcomed home as conquering heroes
whatever happens from here.

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