Gambia Captain Musa Barrow Breaks Silence on Post-Match Clash, Blames Home Disadvantage After Gabon Defeat

The Al-Taawoun forward opened up about Gambia's heated loss to Gabon, reflecting on the tensions and key factors behind their defeat.

Gambia national football team forward Musa Barrow has shed light on the confrontation that happened after the World Cup qualifier match between the Scorpions and Gabon at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, on Friday evening.

Gambia, technically playing at home, lost 3-4 as Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang found the back of the net four times to increase the Panthers' chances of automatically qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

However, the preceding minutes were incredibly tense, with Gabon scoring a late winner and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being sent off due to a confrontation with another player.

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Immediately after the final whistle blew to confirm the heartbreaking 4-3 defeat for Gambia, the players from both teams clashed.

A large-scale confrontation erupted near the centre of the pitch as the Gambian players’ frustration at the loss, compounded by the late controversy, boiled over into a physical altercation with the celebrating Gabonese team.

Security personnel had to swiftly intervene to separate the players and de-escalate the mass confrontation on the field.

Musa Barrow: You Get Used to These Kinds of Games

Musa Barrow, speaking after the match, explained that such things are normal in football, adding that no one got hurt during the confrontation.

“This is football, and at the end of the match, there were some tensions, but at the end of the day, there were no bad things; it was just the normal stuff,” he added.

The Al-Taawoun forward pointed out that playing a home match away from home made it difficult for them to score as much as they wanted.

According to Musa Barrow, playing before home fans makes a huge difference, and he believes that they could have won if given that chance.

He added that they will learn from the costly errors they made, while expressing hope that their next matches will be played at home.

“This is football, so you get used to these kinds of games and you have to learn from them and move on, that’s the only thing. Given the first leg, we are always on top of them, so we just need to learn from our mistakes and the next time we meet them, we shall have quality,” Musa Barrow added.

“Playing away affected our chances. I think this qualification, if we had played at home, we could have qualified. If we play at home, we're going to win because of the fans, and even our players have not played at home for a while now.”

As Gambia prepare for their final World Cup qualifier against Seychelles in Mauritius, Musa Barrow remains hopeful that the team can finish on a high, using the lessons from their defeat to Gabon as motivation to end their campaign positively.