Senegal and Gambia will do battle Saturday. There will be attacks and counterattacks, tactics deployed and territory defended, and when the clash is over, there will be handshakes all around.
Not in West Africa, where the two nations share a border, but in the Bronx, on a soccer field across the street from Yankee Stadium.
Teams manned by expatriates from Senegal and Gambia will play in the finals of the third annual African Advisory Council Bronx Week Soccer Tournament.
"We know the Senegalese very well," said Saikou Demba, 34, captain of the Gambia team. "We really want to win. We have a good rivalry, even back in Africa."
The tournament is the only event of its kind in New York, said Famod Konneh, chairman of the African Advisory Council of the Bronx. Los Angeles also hosts a competition for African expats.
Both the tournament and the council were created in 2010 with help from Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. to make African immigrants feel recognized and more at home in the Bronx.
Diaz got involved in response to concerns over violence directed at the growing population.
The Bronx currently boasts more than 50,000 residents born in Africa, up from 25,000 in 2000, according to census reports known to undercount immigrant groups.
Some believe there are more than 100,000 first and second-generation Africans in the borough.
Restaurants, stores, churches and mosques cater to expats, and traditional garments from Africa are a common sight on Webster Ave. and Fordham Road.
But tensions between the newcomers and their neighbors erupted in the 18 months before January 2010. There were 23 attacks on local Africans, with some investigated as hate crimes.
Diaz and African leaders launched the council and tournament to spark dialogue, connect Africans with social services and make the group more visible.
Until 2010, Bronx Week - the annual celebration of local culture - lacked an African heritage event.
The strategy has worked, Demba said. Africans from different backgrounds wave flags for their teams, and non-African baseball fans headed to and from Yankee Stadium stop by to watch.
"The tournament brings all the African people together," he said. "We come from different nations and there are language barriers. But we all love soccer.
"The tournament also shows our neighbors that we Africans are part of American society."
Last Saturday, in the tournament semifinals, Gambia routed Ghana 3-0 and Senegal spanked Ethiopia 3-1.
The two finalists will face off Saturday at 5 p.m. at Macombs Dam Park on E. 161st St. near Jerome Ave.