By: Mohamed Abu Conteh
The Team Manager for Leone Stars national home team B manager, Alhaji Umar Bah on 19th July 2022 promised the Leone Stars home base national team, the sum of ten United States Dollars if they eliminate Cape Verde Island in the Preliminary rounds of the CHAN qualifiers.
The Leone Stars team Manager made this statement at the Football Academy during a Press Conference and the team’s last training session as the team departed for Morocco ahead of the CHAN Qualifiers against Cape Island.
Alhaji Umar Bah thanks the technical team and the players for their cooperation and compliance throughout the two months of training and he is impressed with everything both training in Freetown and Kenema.
He noted that the team played eleven friendlies matches won (10) matches and drew (1) one which has given him the courage that the team is up for something ahead of the qualifiers and thank the SLFA Executive for their tremendous support throughout the team preparations.
“l want the team to make history, even though it is clear that we have never gone through the group stages of this competition, am very encouraged from what I have seen in Kenema during the past two weeks of the intensive training session.”
He affirmed that the head coach and technical team have confirmed to him that the Leone Stars national home base side is going to qualify against Cape Verde, noting that the coach and backroom staff said they have set up an operation to qualify for the next rounds which means they will eliminate their counterparts.
“I am here to make a promise to you the players if you eliminate Cape Verde, am going to give you Ten Thousand dollars, ($ 10,000,000) equivalent to Leones.”
He further added that he was impressed with the player’s punctuality in training, cooperation, and performance, but warned that there is more ahead and there should be no room for compliance ahead of the clash against Cape Verde.
Victor Lewis the coordinator of Leone Stars national home-based side the team has been training for the past two months, and now it is about time they are set to leave Sierra Leone for Morocco to lock horns with Cape Verde.
“We are going to Morocco to do the needful, we are going to do what is required to do, it is about Sierra Leone and nothing less nothing more, we want to qualify as a unit, an optimist that from what I have seen so far the past two months am sure if we keep the pace we will qualify.”
Harold Nat Johnson the Vice President of the Sierra Leone Football Association said as a Federation they have a constitutional mandate and that is to ensure that football is played in all parts of the Country and to also registered with our affiliates bodies
FIFA and CAF so that we can see in the continental stage at every given time.
“On behalf of the SLFA President and the Executive members, we want to thank you the players, and the technical team for the hard work in both the training session in Freetown and Kenema, we do not doubt that we are very careful in selecting the technical team which has a national face coaches from different Geographical areas in the Country.”
He further that, the appointed coaches are highly qualified with good track records.
“We want you the players to know that you are the feature of Sierra Leone Football and the Confederation of Africa Football stage this tournament mainly for the local base players that are actively playing in their domestic leagues and you have to put more effort when you go out there and represent the Country.
Francis Zappa Koroma the head coach of the national home base side said the team is highly prepared for the task ahead, they have been in training for the past two months trying to implement, conditioning, fitness, tactics, and systems. He noted that now we have prepared the team to represent Sierra Leone and we can eliminate Cape Verde.
He affirmed that they have put up the best team and try to make an unselfish selection because everything they are doing is for Sierra Leone and want to qualify the team for CHAN qualifiers.
“We are aware of our record which is why we have never crossed to the next stage, the boys have prepared mentally and physically to go and represent the nation. I have watched Cape Verde Island in the African nation we know they are strong opponents, but we going to get our systems to face Cape Verde”.
