Potential Leone Stars starting-xi against Algeria

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson

The West African sports loving nation which has huge love for football putting it above the other 48 registered sporting disciplines with the country's National Sports Authority - (NSA), National Senior Men's football team is nicknamed “Leone Stars”.

For the first time since 1994, Leone Stars of Sierra Leone will be taking part in the finals of the TotalEnergies African Cup of Nations-(AFCON) this year for the delayed 2021delayed-2021 African Cup of Nations schedule to take place in Cameroon between January 09 to February 06 where the nation will be looking forward to not spike surprises with their performances, Awoko Newspaper’s Alusine Rehme Wilson opined on the team’s chances and possible starting eleven in their tournament openers against Algeria, one of their three Group-E opponents:

Sierra Leone will battle reigning AFCON Champions Algeria at the Jerome Stadium in Cameroon on 11th January, that match is said to be a real cracker and tracing Sierra Leone’s road to the AFCON finals they possess an incredible chance of winning it's opening group-E clash plus their two other matches respectively against opponents Algeria, Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea to progress to the round of 16.

The nation’s which shocked the global football family after their historic 4-4 comeback against the Super Eagles of Nigeria and later played to a barren draw at home in Freetown to pick shape in their Group-L qualification group, later stunned their Benin counterpart 1-0 at the GLC Stadium in Guinea last June to put an end to a 25 years long AFCON jinx can eventually jab more surprises when their begin their campaign in the continental football showpiece against Algeria.

Already, the 28 players that were announced last December as the nation’s final AFCON Squad remain excited and very optimistic in camp to offer their best for their home country.

Apart from the said 28 players who are fully ready to represent Sierra Leone at the AFCON, Head coach John Keister and his backroom staff will depend on the quality blend of both promising as well as experienced players such as Kwame Quee, Isman Kakay, Sulllay Kaikai, Mohamed Noah Kamara, Saidu Mansary, Yeami Duniya Idriss Kanu, skipper Umaro Bangura, John Kamara, Alhaji Kamara, Mohamed Buya Turay, Ibrahim Sesay, Steven Caulker among others to live up to the task of their Nation’s sports loving first gentle man His Excellency the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio, who on Tuesday while bidding farewell to the delegation, told the team on behalf of the nation that “all the nation needs is the 2021-TotalEnergies African Cup of Nations-(AFCON) trophy.”

However, Goalkeeper: Mohamed N. Tamara, Defenders: Osman Kakay, Saidu Mansaray, Umaro Bangura(C), Yeami Duniya, Midfielders: John Kamara, Kwame Quee, Sullay Kaikai, Issa Kallon and Forwards: Alhaji Kamara, Mohamed Buya Turay, Kei Kamara could make the cut for Leone Stars starting eleven-(XI) against Algeria.

Sierra Leone, Two other Nations disqualified from AFCON 2024 U17 Qualifiers

By: Abdulrahman Barrie The U17 football teams from Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau have been disqualified from the 2024 U17 African Cup of Nations competition in Senegal after failing the mandatory MRI test scans. These scans, which determine the age of the players, revealed discrepancies that led to their removal from the tournament. The disqualification follows changes to Article 27.4 of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations regulations, which have tightened the criteria and enforcement of age verification measures. The updated rules stipulate that if a team has more than four players deemed ineligible after the MRI eligibility test, the entire team will be disqualified. The MRI tests, used to enforce age restrictions in youth competitions, are crucial for ensuring fairness. Unfortunately, the teams from these three nations did not meet the age criteria, resulting in their disqualification. This decision has come as a significant disappointment for the young players and their fans, w...

Disturbing snail space Civil works in the Makeni Central Lorry park

By: Ibrahim Jalloh - (Jallomy) The Makeni City Council (MCC) ordered commercial vehicles and business entities to leave the park area for the purpose of upgrading the park. Two weeks were given as the duration of the work. Regrettably, a week plus few days have elapsed with no significant work done. Drivers and business people in the park are completely frustrated and their livelihoods threatened. Few years ago, drivers and traders were asked out of the park for similar reason but after two weeks they were asked to return to the park with no work done. This was disrespectful and insulting. We urge MCC to double their efforts as the affected persons are running out of patience.

CAF Postpones 34th AFCON Edition to 2024

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson During its latest Executive Committee Meeting in the Moroccan city of Rabat, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, the President of the Confederation of African Football-CAF announced the federation’s decision to postpone the 34th TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations to 2024. According to Dr. Patrice Motsepe, CAF has decided to postpone the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire “as a direct and sole result of the adverse weather conditions in the country and after also having received further technical opinion from experts on adverse effects of staging the matches in that period.” The tournament was earlier scheduled to be played in Ivory Coast for a month precisely from 23rd June to 23 July 2023, but it will now be played between January and February next year in the same nation(Ivory Coast) with 24 of Africa’s Best Men’s Senior National Teams that will progress from the qualifiers which started last months to compete for the prestigious African Trophy...

AWE Media Sierra Leone

Search This Blog