Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet says Stallions can be ‘very proud’ of Afcon run

Head coach of the Gambia national team, Tom Saintfiet has said his side can be very proud of how they performed at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Gambia, ranked 150 in the world, were competing at the Nations Cup for the first time in their history. Despite being newcomers, they defied the odds to reach the quarterfinals, claiming big wins against Tunisia and Mauritania in the group stage before beating Guinea in the last-16.

Cameroon, however, proved too much for the small West African nation in the quarterfinals, as they lost 2-0. But Saintfiet sounded pleased with their overall campaign.

“We have to enjoy the good things, we have to analyze the bad things but overall I think we can be very proud of it,” the Belgian told reporters.

He went on to tip Cameroon, who knocked them out, for continental glory, saying the five-time champions have “fantastic strikers” and home advantage.

“We have to be honest, the way they [Cameroon] play, not only against us also in previous matches.. they have fantastic strikers. In modern football, you need strikers to score goals. And if you score seven goals in five games, it helps the team a lot.

“We lost Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria and Ivory Coast, there are not so many big nations left and Cameroon has experience performing at this level, they are playing at home with fantastic crowd. So I believe they’re very close to becoming champions.”

Hosts Cameroon have scored the most goals of any team in this edition with 11. Aiming for a sixth title, they will face either Egypt or Morocco for a place in the final.