Following the Gambia national team’s exit from TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Tom Saintfiet has resigned from his post with immediate effect.
Their 3-2 defeat to Cameroon in their final Group C Cup of Nations encounter at the Stade de Bouaké was the end of the road for Saintfiet on Tuesday.
Saintfiet, 50, confirmed his decision to quit as the Scorpion’s technical head after failing to pick a single point in the group stage.
Saintfiet took over the Scorpions in 2018 and led the side to the quarter-finals of the 2021 edition of Afcon on their debut, but couldn’t replicate heroics in Ivory Coast.
“Thank you for your service gaffer. Gambia will indeed miss a great tactician,” the Gambia Football Federation said in a message posted on X.
The Gambia were 168th in the world rankings when Saintfiet took charge in July 2018, and the 50-year-old departs after improving their position to 126th.
The Scorpions were the lowest-ranked team at the 2021 finals but beat Mauritania, Tunisia and Guinea on the way to the last eight, where they were beaten 2-0 by hosts Cameroon.
His side suffered a 3-0 defeat by defending champions Senegal in their opening Cup of Nations 2023 opener and then fell to a 1-0 loss against fellow West Africans Guinea.
Saintfiet had previously Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi and Togo.
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