The Gambia have arrived at the world cup, as ‘Our man in black’ will decide group B match.
The world cup fever has hit the small football loving West African country from the start. The Brazil world cup is proving to be unpredictable and entertaining at the same time, with many bad refereeing decisions being made. Also, football underdogs like Iran, Bosnia, etc have performed beyond expectations, whilst current holder, Spain, could not advance to the next round. An experienced Gambian referee, Bakary Gassama, will officiate the crucial Group B match between Netherlands (Holland) and Chile.
The Gambian football official contingent will be on the world stage on Monday afternoon. A Gambian veteran football fan’s expectation about Mr Gassama’s performance is high. Gassama’s takes over the pitch after complaints of bad refereeing involving Brazil and many other top teams.
Mr Gassama should be alerted that, all eyes are on him and that, the masses of Gambian football fans will back him so long as he remains composed and stands his ground. Referees tend to be soft on superstar players and play actors, however, Mr Bakary Gassama owes it to the Gambia, and Africa at large to come out of the game a much respected referee. At least, the Gambia will be proud to have our own ‘man in the black’ in the world centre stage.
Mr Gassama is known to be a firm and fair referee. However, tomorrow’s game will be a litmus test to his experience, career and character.
Ends
Good to know that he’s a fair one, because here in Chile everyone is wondering if Gassama was appointed for this match to make things sure for Brasil.
I am happy to see one of our own at the world stage.
Excellent refereeing, probably the best thus far in the world cup. It would be good for the tournament if this man would be given another match to referee at a later stage.
Almost flawless yesterday. Very good referee. I am looking forward to him refereeing other complex matches.
Awful. Dutch players kicked chilean players all the match and just one yellow card. No character, inexperienced, he belived all the acting from Robben.
My compliments to mr. Bakary Gassama, what a performance yesterday!
Gambia can indeed be proud of such a referee whose calm composure and sound judgment never wavered for a moment during Chili vs. The Netherlands.
I must admit that I’m Dutch myself and can thus not be considered entirely neutral.
However mr. Gassama’s performance reminded me of the days in which a certain referee named Collina was able to tame even the most heated matches by demonstrating a coolheaded and natural authority.
Not once did mr. Gassama fall for the many obvious, deceitful Chilean attempts to secure an undeserved penalty. The rest of game was also skillfully arbitrated. This was a relief to see and stands in stark contrast with many other matches of this World Cup.
For Gambia, I hope that in the future they will also be able to cultivate such skill in their national team!
Greetings from the Netherlands,
Roger de Beaumont