In a Sky Sports exclusive interview, Gambia head coach Tom Saintfiet reflects on the African minnows' progress to the last eight in Cameroon and the players who could make a move to the Premier League; watch Gambia vs Cameroon live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 4pm
Saturday 29 January 2022 17:29, UK
Gambia head coach Tom Saintfiet is basking in the spotlight with the African minnows the surprise package of this year's Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon.
Ranked 150th in the world, the Scorpions are preparing to face the hosts for a place in the semi-finals on Saturday at the Japoma Stadium in Douala, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 3.55pm.
Saintfiet has been inundated with messages since his side beat Guinea 1-0 in the round of 16 last Monday to set up a quarter-final showdown with Cameroon, but the Gambia boss revealed in an exclusive Sky Sports interview that he secretly expected his players to thrive on the biggest stage.
"I've always addressed the media by saying that we're the minnows, that we're here to learn and that we're the underdogs," Saintfiet said.
"We're going to have to go through the pre-qualification process for AFCON in 2023 as we're among the 12 worst-ranked teams in African football. That shows how small we are but naturally my ambition is to build something that is more long-term.
"We've got a young group of players who can grow still. It's important we use this first experience at AFCON to qualify more frequently - in 2023, 2025 and maybe even to be at the World Cup in 2026.
"We've proven in the last three-and-a-half years what we can do having won our qualifying group and drawn with Nigeria in our previous campaign. We've also beaten Morocco in an away friendly. We've had good results against big nations so we knew we were competitive.
"Inside the group, our target is much higher than what we communicated to the public. We're on track and now we'll see what our limitations are.
"You can dream, but on the pitch it has to happen."
"I know at the moment with have two players in League Two - Ibou Touray at Salford City and Ebou Adams at Forest Green Rovers. In my eyes they are fantastic and can play higher than this level, with all due respect.
"We have Modou Barrow, who is ex-Swansea and Reading and now playing in South Korea [K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors]. For sure, I have a few players who dream about the Premier League.
We've got a young group of players who can grow still. Let's hope some can join the Premier League soon.
"My centre-back Omar Colley is married to a British lady and he's been a top performer for many years in Serie A with Sampdoria. He would be perfectly suitable for the Premier League.
"Naturally, our striker Musa Barrow from Bologna is a young player with a lot of qualities and has been linked in the past with Premier League teams. He has shown here in Cameroon his importance to the team.
"Let's hope some players can join the Premier League soon."
"We can't complain with how the tournament has gone. As Gambians, it's been fantastic to be here for the first time in the country's history at the Africa Cup of Nations.
"Gambia are ranked 150th in the world - the worst-ranked side left in the tournament and as debutants but now we're in the quarter-finals playing against the hosts Cameroon.
"Naturally we had ambitions but we could not have imagined this. We knew we had qualities after winning our qualification group against Angola, DR Congo and Gabon. They're all respected countries but we never had experience of a big tournament.
"Being in the quarter-finals, we like the taste of being here. We'd like to stay for a week longer but let's now see what happens against Cameroon."
The Africa Cup of Nations tournament is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in January and February.
The tournament, originally scheduled to be played in June and July 2021, is being played in Cameroon between January 9 and February 6, 2022, with Sky Sports showing all 52 games live.
Twenty-four teams are taking part. The action kicked off on January 9 as hosts Cameroon beat Burkina Faso in Yaounde, before culminating in the final on February 6 in the capital.
