Gambia shrugs off Chad scare to join African charge to Ivory Coast 2023
The Gambia have qualified to the AFCON 2023 qualification run proper but had to do it the hard way as they needed a 92nd minute equalizer from a spot kick to rescue themselves from a premature elimination in the hands of a less fancied Central African opponent, Chad.
In the second leg of the preliminary round qualifier played in Agadir, Morocco, two-goal hero Assan Ceesay equalized for the scorpions for his first goal in the first half after Chad had an early lead.
Les Sao, struck again three minutes into the second half, and it seemed to be the goal that would give Chad one of, if not, their best ever result in their footballing history, until the Gambia were awarded a late penalty in the 92nd minute. Assan Ceesay calmly stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way. The scorpions celebrated after the final whistle in what was a very tense and nervy game. The Gambia will now be in the draw for the qualification proper where they would be hoping to qualify for successive Africa Cup of Nations finals. Gambia 3 – 2 Chad it ended on aggregate over the two-legged tie.