BY: Media Officer Foday Jatta

Real de Banjul fans and supporters may tend to have divided opinions as to who between our talented goalkeepers in Ebrima Jarju and Lamin Saidy should be in between the goalpost in every important fixture but not the ‘brothers’ themselves who are happy sharing the role.

The City Boys and Gambia national youth teams shot stoppers Ebrima Jarju and Lamin Saidy are happy to share the role and games between themselves. The dream of every Head Coach is to be spoiled with a talented pool of players in your squad that routinely give you selection headaches week-in-week-out, and that’s exactly what Bye Malleh Wadda has, with arguably the two best goalkeepers in the league.

EBRIMA JARJU
The City Boys’ captain has represented The Gambia at U-20 level before his elevation to being the Gambia U-23s number one. Ebrima also got invited to the senior Scorpions’ set up at the beginning of Tom Saintfiet’s tenure. He has won one GFF Cup, two Super Cups, and one Late Omar Sey trophy with Real de Banjul.

LAMIN SAIDY
Lamin may well be one of the names that comes to mind when talking about the finest young African goalkeepers at the moment. The Real de Banjul youngster was part of the Gambia U-20 team that won bronze in Guinea as a backup keeper. Saidy went on to be number one and won the WAFU ZONE A U-20 gold medal in Senegal and the Africa Cup of Nations U-20 bronze medal in Mauritania. Lamin has won one Super Cup and the Late Omar Sey trophy with Real de Banjul.

Asked how he feels about sharing games with his teammate, Ebrima said: “Real de Banjul is a big club and we are two national team goalkeepers. Lamin is a good goalkeeper and I am too, so, we try to help each other. We are family here. We don’t have a problem with that (sharing games) so, people have to start understanding that we are two of the best goalkeepers in the country. Lamin has a good heart, he used to help me because any time I play a game, he will call to rectify me if he sees any mistakes in my game and I do the same for him.”

Lamin Saidy, the Gambia U-20 number one has this to say when asked about the two of them sharing position: “I always thank him (Ebrima) because he helps me a lot together with Abdoulie Njie (our goalkeeper trainer) because I reached the level I am today because of them. For me, I don’t have a problem if Ebrima plays or I play; Ebrima is my brother, if I play he always wishes me good luck and if he plays I always wish him good luck. If Ebrima plays, it is like Lamin that played, so I am okay with that.”

Real de Banjul is known for producing top goalkeepers that go on to represent the national teams, notably; Pa Dembo Touray, Bala Musa Bajaha, Abdoulie Njie (current goalkeeper trainer) and Alagie Modou Jobe, who is the Scorpions’ number one and helped the country qualify to its maiden Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.