June 22, 2021
By: Mohamed Jalloh
The Euphoric hangover can be perceived on many Sierra Leoneans, as the nation continues reeling over breaking a 25 years deadlock of qualifying to the premier continental football tournament.
In Tunisia 1994, the Leones Stars as the national team is nicknamed made its maiden appearance at AFCON.
After playing two group game matches, the team returned home after losing against defending champions Ivory Coast and drawing goalless against Zambia -another strong force in African football.
Despite a 4-0 thumping by the elephants of Ivory Coast and a goalless draw against the Chipolopolo of Zambia, the boys were spared of criticism and harsh judgment by home fans.
Generally, It was considered not a bad tournament after returning home with a point amongst the continent`s best twelve teams.
Candidly, the team was judged from a prism of playing for prestige rather than creating an impact.
This was the first time the country`s national anthem was played and the Green, White and Blue hoisted among the flags of contending elite African footballing nations.
For citizens following the team back home, un-controllable football passion mixed with national pride was palpable, as the national anthem was horned before the kickoff of matches.
For the average African or Global citizen or a religious follower of football, obviously; this was likely the first time of knowing about a country called Sierra Leone.
It should be noted that qualifying for the AFCON in Tunisia 1994 was a tough sell because in a continent of over 50 countries, the tournament`s configuration by Confederation of African Football (CAF) only allowed twelve teams in the final show piece.
In the 1996 South Africa AFCON, the Leone Stars replicated its continental qualification in a field that was expanded for the first time to 16 teams, split into 4 groups of four teams each.
In South Africa 1996, the Leones Stars made history by not only breaking the goal drought but further registering its first win against Burkina Faso by 2 goals to1.
Gbassay Sesay scored the opener but the Burkinabe’s were later leveled in the early period of the second half.
As the game progresses, the flair and attacking flow of the Leones Stars was unmatched by the Burkinabe`s.
A combination of guile and team play eventually produced the winning goal at the dying minutes of the game.
After receiving a pass from Gbassay Sesay, Lamin Conteh popularly called Junior Tumbu dazzled pass two opponents and then finds Amidu Karim in the right attacking flank.
Amidu Karim had some space and after dribbling for a while, he saw Mohamed Kallon who had freed himself with a beautiful run at the edge of the 18 yards box raising his hands for the ball.
A timely release by Amidu Karim and a timely low footed shot by Mohamed Kallon saw the ball roll into the bottom left corner of the net.
The win against Burkina Faso in South Arica 1996 is still recorded in the football history books as the first and only victory by the Leones Stars at a major tournament.
The aftermath of scoring that winning goal eventually propelled Mohamed Kallon to football stardom and further cemented a niche of the name “wonder boy” in the hearts of national football fans.
After the period regarded as the golden era of Sierra Leone football (1994-1996), the team has missed out for 25years at the elite continental showpiece.
Several factors have plagued the team`s failure to qualify for the AFCON until eventually breaking the deadlock with a victory against Benin to qualify for Cameroun 2022.
Poor preparation, bad football political culture, non-functional local league, lack of basic football infrastructure, poor motivation are touted amongst the problems besetting Sierra Leone football.
Amidst all the aforementioned troubles, the natural talent of the boys should never be underestimated.
Getting the best out of the boys in these unfavorable circumstances could be very difficult.
By defying great odds in 2014, Leones Stars were inches away to the AFCON but only losing mathematically by a goal difference to the republic of Niger.
The reinvigoration of the local league by the Bio led government had a positive effect on the national team as some local base players were fielded in the crucial encounter against Benin.
After securing qualification, the six month period to the AFCON finals in Cameroun must be utilized in attaining technical appropriateness in-terms of terms tactics and strategy.
Plugging the gaps and consolidating the team`s weakness in every compartment must be an urgent priority for the technical staff.
After staging one of the greatest comebacks in football history against Nigeria, it has dawned on the minds of opponents in Cameroun that the Leone Stars is no longer an underdog or push over but a force to reckon with in African football.
After securing its third qualifications to the AFCON, the team is hungry for success and Cameroun is seen as a platform to display their talents that could earn them lucrative contracts in Europe`s top leagues.
With great ambition, determination, and team spirit, the Leone Stars is coming to Cameroun not only to make up the numbers (as is the case in previous tournaments) but to create an indelible impact in African football.
Supporters were elated after the victory.
Fans celebrated by chanting down to the “Burkinabe rebels”.
At this critical juncture, Sierra Leone was in the midst of a civil war and supporters took time to jolt at Burkinabe`s who were imported as mercenaries to perpetrate the raging conflict.
The second game saw a display of brilliant performance, but the Leones Stars lost by 2 goals to zero against Algeria, the current defending champions.
The team aspired to win the final group match against Zambia to qualify for the rounds of last eight.
However, Leones stars was thrashed 4-0 by the Chipolopolo of Zambia in a match that witnessed a heavy down pour of rain.
It was the moment Kalusha Bwalya, the star man of Chipolopolo and only survivor of the horrible plane crash in 1993 that perished the entire Zambian national football team becomes a household name in African Football.
The name of the Zambian was adopted by some street playing football kids in Freetown after the end of the match.
The 4-0 defeat to Zambia was a one sided affair as Bwalya scored a hat trick, skilfully chipping two balls that was volleyed overhead the Sierra Leone stopper Brima Attouga Kamara.