- Sierra stars will open their qualifying campaign on Friday, February 5, 2021, at the Stade Lat Dior in Thies against Guinea Bissau before taking on Mali two days later.
- Sierra Leone national U-17 side, Sierra Stars will join five other nations, namely Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, hosts Senegal, and Mauritania in the Senegalese city of Thies from February 5-13 for the West Africa Football Union competition designed for countries in Zone-A.
- This six-nation will battle for only two spots to represent the region in the 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football, CAF to be hosted in Morocco this year.
It will be the first edition in Africa U-17 Cup of Nations to have expanded to 12 teams instead of eight.
Head coach Raymond Lewis is self-assured to continue his unbeaten run with Sierra Stars since he was appointed last August.
“I’m very familiar with my boys, and I trust them enough to outshine our opponents in the qualifiers, from training they have proven to fit and ready for the task ahead.”
“No disrespect to our opponents in the group; Guinea Bissau and Mali, they are both formidable sides with vast experience but let me assure all that the time is now for our boys to shine. We will make it to the top two teams of the qualifiers and advance to represent our nation well in the Nations Cup,” an excited Lewis remarked.
Across all levels, Sierra Stars remain the only Sierra Leone side to have participated in a FIFA competition after their impressive performance in the 2003 U-17 African qualifiers hosted in Swaziland and qualified for the World cup finals in Finland alongside Nigeria and Cameroon under the guidance of former Sierra Leone International Musa Kallon.
@ufoawafu #SierraLeone 🇸🇱 to open U17 against Guinea-Bissau 🇬🇼 in Senegal 🇸🇳 pic.twitter.com/HQJFKgyyVp
— FSL News website (@football_sierra) February 2, 2021
By Alusine Rehme Wilson – Connect with us @football_sierra, on Facebook/ Instagram Football Sierra Leone.
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