Sierra Leone has been knocked out of the ongoing WAFU Zone A Women’s championship group stage on Monday after their 1-0 defeat to neighboring Guinea at Estadio Marcelo Leito, Cape Verde.
Fatoumata Dèdé Dialloq’s 86th-minute strike dashed Sierra Queens’ hope of progressing to the semi-finals.
Defending champions Senegal are through to the last four after their overwhelming 4-1 win against The Gambia, and will face Sierra Leone in the final group stage match on Wednesday 25th January.
Sierra Queens’ head coach, Ernest Hallowell said his players displayed a high level of confidence despite the several injuries during the match.
“The Guineans were so aggressive that they had to injure three of my players who were taken off. Overall, the future of this team is bright. The women played beautifully even though they lost”, he added.
Meanwhile, the injured players, including goalkeeper Cecilia Bangura who was placed under oxygen, are now recovering.
The Gambia and Guinea’s final group stage match will be a stiff contest as one of them will join Senegal in the semi-finals.
Speaking shortly after the match this was what Sierra Queens’ Head Coach Ernest Hallowell had to say.
“It was a highly competitive match. To be sincere the players did extremely well. It was unfortunate for us right from the start of the match. We had a major injury from our first team goalkeeper, and along the way, towards the end of the match we also lost one of our major midfielders and that affected the match in terms of pressing in the middle”
Coach Hallowell was appointed on 12th January less than ten days before the start of the tournament. The WAFU Zone A Women’s Championship is an international tournament organized by the West African Football Union (WAFU). It aims at developing female football within the WAFU region.
The Sierra Leone Women’s Senior National team went to this tournament with a short preparation, even though the aim is to give exposure to the team as they prepare for the feature International competition.
