- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
- Lebanon doctors tell of horror after pager blasts
- McIlroy eyes Wentworth glory after Irish Open collapse
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ |
Serie A star Barrow revels in Gambia's stunning AFCON run
Musa Barrow could be forgiven for seeing himself as the superstar in tiny Gambia as the country's football team prepare for their first ever Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final.
The 23-year-old forward plays regularly in Serie A and is fresh from scoring the goal that took the Scorpions into the last eight and a tie against hosts Cameroon in Douala, but his humility shines through.
"Some might say I am one of the big players in this team but I don't see myself as a big player. I see myself as equal to everyone. You have to stay humble and help others," he tells AFP at the team's base in Cameroon's economic capital.
"Even if you are a big player you have to earn your place and give everything.
"It is our first time in the AFCON. Who knows when we will come back again? So I have to live and enjoy this moment."
Barrow's superb goal clinched a 1-0 win for Gambia over Guinea in the last 16 to set up a date with the Indomitable Lions, but even before that this Cup of Nations had been an extraordinary success for Tom Saintfiet's team.
The west African nation of 2.5 million people which hugs the Gambia river is the smallest country on the African mainland.
The Scorpions had never come close to qualifying for a major tournament before, and yet they made it through their group by beating Mauritania and Tunisia either side of a draw with Mali.
Barrow coolly converted a last-minute penalty to secure a point against Mali and sent stunning free-kicks off the woodwork in that game and against Tunisia.
Needless to say the team are well aware of the impact their run is having back home.
"After the game my big brother called me and you could see all the people outside celebrating," Barrow says.
"Everyone is happy back home. It is a small nation. We love football. People learn football from the street so coming to this AFCON, reaching this stage is a big improvement and it is going to take the Gambian name to higher heights."
- Italian connection -
Barrow is one of a handful of Gambian players based in Italy, having been at Atalanta before joining Bologna in January 2020.
Each has his own story. The 20-year-old midfielder Ebrima Darboe is now playing under Jose Mourinho at Roma having travelled alone to Libya aged 15 before a perilous boat journey over the Mediterranean.
As for Barrow, the boy from Banjul was still a teenager when he was given the opportunity by Atalanta to move to Bergamo.
"My Mum, who is a teacher, didn't allow me to travel but eventually I got the chance to go to study and then have trials at Atalanta.
"They liked me and so I had a chance to become a professional player. Then you have education and you have football and you have to drop education for football, but I am happy that it worked out for me."
He has been a revelation at Bologna since joining in January 2020 and netting nine goals in his first half-season in Serie A.
A further eight goals followed last season and five more so far in this campaign, and Barrow is flourishing there under the management of Sinisa Mihajlovic.
"Mihajlovic played a huge part in my career, so I am very happy and I can't thank him enough.
"Like every player you want to reach a higher stage of football. Playing in the Champions League, playing in bigger leagues, but it depends on the hard work you put in."
First of all, though, it is Cameroon on Saturday, and a Gambia win would be one of the all-time great AFCON shocks.
"We have nothing to lose but they are the host nation. If they lose it is going to be a big disaster for them."
B.Shevchenko--BTB