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"Liberia can’t stop Sierra Leone, the team just needs to be more focused and hungry” - Amidu Karim

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson 


Later today at the SKD-Sports Complex in Liberia, the Liberian senior men’s national home-based team will play host to their Mano River Union Sierra Leone in a crucial return leg match in the West Africa Football Union (WAFU A) first round qualifiers of the delayed CAF TotalEnergies Africa Championship (CHAN) 2024.

The anticipated clash comes exactly four days since the host narrowly defeated their Sierra Leonean counterparts 2-1 in the first leg at the same stadium where they will also be facing off for a ticket to next round of the qualifiers.

With the stakes now high for the visitors whose forward Salliu Tarawllie last minute missed penalty helped the Liberians to snatch the maximum match points from the first leg, Multimedia Journalist Alusine Rehme Wilson spoke to experienced Sierra Leone coach Amidu Karim who’s monitoring the team as part of his preparation for his side’s last two group matches in the AFCON 2025 qualifiers, to have his bite on his country’s chances to the next round.

Speaking to Awoko Newspaper from Liberia, coach Karim, head coach of his country’s senior men’s national team (Leone Stars), who successfully put his country on the map on October 14, this year when he clinched a famous 1-0 win over the Côte D’Ivoire, the defending champions TotalEnergies African Cup of Nations (AFCON), says “Liberia can’t stop Sierra Leone, the team just needs to be more focused and hungry.”

He reminisced some of the wasted chances by the Sierra Leone team in the first leg, saying “if you watch the last match between Sierra Leone and Liberia, you will notice that the Sierra Leone team were the favourite to win but they gave up along the way and the Liberians took advantage of the only chances they had to secure a late victory.”

The Leone Stars coach said the mistakes committed by the Sierra Leone team in the first leg “could be avoided on Friday when both nations meet again for the second leg. All that’s needed for the Sierra Leone team is composure and endurance because they’ll be playing without their first choice goalkeeper who picked up a red card in the first leg.

“The Sierra Leone team is stronger and skilful than their opponents. If they become hungrier and more focus than they were in the first leg they’ll secure a convincing second leg victory over Liberia and book a ticket to the second round of the qualifiers,” coach Karim further said reminding the team to be more determined and dedicated in the match in order to overcome the host on their home soil.

However, a win for Sierra Leone would see them and join the five seeded WAFU A’ nations namely Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and defending champions Senegal to compete in the second round for the three available spots in the tournament finals, which according to CAF will feature a total of 19 teams to race for the impressive $2 million champions prize.

Should Sierra Leone beat Liberia and advance to the CHAN qualifiers second round, they’ll face Senegal in the race to join the 19 teams that will make it to the tournament finals for  the 2024 continental title established by CAF in 2009 with the desire to promote football development across Africa.

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