Gambia coach Abdoulie Bojang says securing a place in the semi-finals of the TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup is important for his Young Scorpions.

The Gambia hammered South Sudan 5-0 at the El Hodoud Stadium in Alexandria to storm into the last four and set up a date with record champions Nigeria.

“Coming into the tournament playing four matches, scoring nine goals without conceding a goal and qualifying for the World Cup I think that’s a big achievement,” Bojand said.

“That was our primary objective to qualify for the World Cup that is very important for the team and the country at large.

“Our first target is to qualify for the World Cup which we’ve achieved after the game. This is what I have told the boys. We’ve achieved our first target.”

Steve Biko forward Adama Bojang scored a hat-trick against the debutants South Sudan as the Young Scorpions romp through.

“We have qualified to the World Cup and to the semi-finals again. Last edition the team were bronze medalists and this time we wanted to improve on that,” the former Scorpions midfielder said.

“The next opponent is Nigeria. It’s a very important game now we have to forget about the South Sudan game.

“We’ve already qualified, now we’re looking for the gold medal but we have to win the Nigeria game so we can reach the final and clinch the gold.

“As I said earlier, we have to take it game by game. The next most important game is Nigeria.”