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Sierra Leone aim to bounce back with Benin friendly
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

Sierra Leone aim to bounce back with Benin friendly

Sierra Leone’s newly appointed head coach, Amidu Karim, will officially start his reign against  Gernot Rohr’s side at the Stade Khourribga in Casablanca, Morocco, later this afternoon.

Both nations are preparing for next month’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers – Kickoff at 3:30 PM Sierra Leone time.

Sierra Leone will be looking to avoid a third straight defeat following defeats to Nigeria and Guinea-Bissua in the African Cup of Nations 2023 match day five and six qualifiers.

Like Sierra Leone, Benin suffered a 3-2 defeat to Mozambique in the final Group L Afcon 2023 qualifier. 

Defenders Curtis Davies and Augustine Loof will not be available for the Benin contest as they await Fifa clearance on the Football Association switch. However, they’ll be ready to face Somalia in the Fifa tier two duel on Tuesday. 

Today’s contest will be the fifth meeting between the two West African nations – their last was when both contested in the race to Cameroon Afcon. Leone Stars came out supremed in the Guinean Capital with a 1-0 victory in June 2021 to reach the 2021 Cup of Nations with Kei Kamara’s only goal.

The Cheetahs of Benin won the first meeting in that qualifiers at the Stade Charles de Gaulle, Porto Novo 1-0 on 17 November 2019.

In their last four meeting – Benin won three out of four – in October 2006, they defeated Leone Stars 2-0, the same result on 12 October 2007 through Oumar Tchomogo brace.

Benin is in Group C against Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho in the race to the 2026 World Cup. 

Sierra Leone in Group A against Ethiopia, powerhouse Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau and Djibouti are the others in the race to the 2026 World Cup.

The continental journey to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Mexico and Canada will begin in November 2023. 

https://twitter.com/football_sierra/status/1713121906629447814

 

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Sierra Leone v Benin head to head since 2006
Sierra Leone v Benin head to head since 2006
Curtis Davies and eight other foreign-based players have arrived at Leone Stars camp in Morocco for friendly matches against Benin and Somalia on the 14 and 17, respectively.
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

Curtis Davies banks on experience to boost Sierra Leone dream

Former West Bromwich and Derby centre-back Curtis Davies is optimistic his twenty-years professional football will help the Sierra Leone national team as he joins new International teammates.

Davies, 38, presently playing for League One side Cheltenham Town, has arrived at Leone Stars camp in Morocco for friendly matches against Benin and Somalia on the 14 and 17, respectively.

Acknowledging he is in the twilight of his career, however, his professional know-how can help nurture his new International teammates.

With over 500 professional matches for clubs like Birmingham, Aston Villa, West Brom, Hull and Derby, Davies told Football Sierra Leone that he banks on his professional ability to guide others.

“I hope my experience can help this time – I think being an older player, having played at the level I have played at, I would like to think the professionalism I bring and the standards I have adhered to in my whole career – will hopefully assist the group, But first, I need to know my teammates, as players, as people and from there – you can help people individually.

“For now, is all about me coming into this camp, getting to know people, the technical team, getting to know the way things are goning to be done so that hopfully, in the next camp for the World Cup qualifiers, I am better prepare Individually and people know me a bit more.”

  • On Receiving The Call-Up

 “When I got the call, it was an initial shock, if I am being honest. Because obviously, at my age, I thought the opportunity to play for Sierra Leone had gone. 

It was something that had always been at the back of my head. But, what it is, I never want to be the one to reach out. 

It could have been easy to try during the AFCON in Cameroon when there was success. Again, at the time, I did not want to jump at the success of others.

  •  Davies On His Sierra Leone Root 

“When I spoke to my dad after receiving the call – in his voice, I knew I had to do it, to come and play for the team – he was so proud.

My dad is the motivational factor in this. Obviously, when I was younger, I represented England at the U21 level. I then was in some four squads as I got older. 

I could have played for Ireland – it was never a question of playing for Ireland or Sierra Leone. That is why I never play for Ireland, either. 

Is a case of my dad has done everything in my life to give me the best opportunity to be a player, so I think at this stage of my career, to be able to do this is a blessing. 

I would like to dedicate my dad – he made this happen for all those years of running around to various football pitches. From County football, District football and them even for Premier League, my dad will go everywhere.”

Between 2006 and 2007, Davies earned three caps for England under-21s before he was drafted in Fabio Capello’s first England squad in January 2008. 

On Saturday, Sierra Leone kicks off their 2026 World Cup preparations with a friendly against Benin in Morocco at the Stade Bechir, Casablanca, before taking on Somalia on Tuesday at the Stade Berrechid.

The Leone Stars journey for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Mexico and Canada will begin in November 2023 against Ethiopia and African powerhouse Egypt. 

The others in Group A are Burkina-Faso Guinea-Bissau and Djibouti in the race to the 2026 World Cup.

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Curtis Davies first Leone Stars training session in Casablanca, Morocco
Curtis Davies first Leone Stars training session in Casablanca, Morocco
Caf 'A' licensed coach Victoria Conteh set for SFEF sport education program
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

Caf A licenced coach Victoria embraces empowerment role  

CAF A Licence female trainer Victoria Conteh, the first woman to coach a top-tier men’s football club in Sierra Leone, is set to hit the road running – on a quest to educate the next generation of coaches across Sierra Leone.

Coach Conteh to join hands in the Sport For Empowerment Foundation Grassroots coaches and management training to be rolled out from the 14th of October 2023 across Sierra Leone for up to three weeks.

Over the years, she has been working with the SFEF foundation across Sierra Leone to promote grassroots education programs for young coaches in rural areas.

In May of 2022, she led their first-ever grassroots coaches management and education training program in Kono. In August of the same year, a follow-up training program was organized in Kono, with coaches from various areas across the country participating in the training.

This month, she will lead a group of expert coaches who will be travelling from Lungi, Bo, Kenema, Mattru Jong, Kono, Kamakwie, and Makeni to continue educating grassroots coaches with the theme Building Better Communities Through Education and Sport.

Conteh is the only female CAF Instructor in Sierra Leone and holds a CAF ‘A’ License. She has served as under 20 women’s team coach. 

She now serves as coordinator for the Sierra Leone national female team. Victoria Conteh was a member of the first Sierra Leone Women’s International in 1994.

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Sierra Leone line-up friendlies for World Cup qualifiers
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

Sierra Leone line-up friendlies for World Cup qualifiers

Veteran English defender Curtis Davies has been drafted to provisional head coach Amidu Karim’s 25-man sqaud for friendlies in Morocco.

The Cheltenham Town defender is set to join eleven (11) other foreign-based players for friendlies against Benin and Somalia in Casablanca, Morocco.

Sierra Leone to kick start the groundwork for World Cup 2026 qualifiers with matches against Benin and Somalia. The Leone Stars will take on the Cheetahs of Benin on the 14th before hosting the Ocean Stars of Somalia on the 17 October.

All engagements are for preparatory assessments for November’s World Cup qualification. 

Somalia are in Group G alongside Algeria, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique and Botswana. Benin is in Group C against Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho in the race to the 2026 World Cup. 

The Leone Stars defeated Benin 1-0 in their last meeting through a Kei Kamara spot kick during the AFCON race to Cameroon in Guinea in June 2021 as Sierra Leone secured a place at the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 1996.

Ranked 124 in the global standings, Leone Stars’ journey to qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Mexico and Canada will begin in November 2023. 

Coach Karim and the technical team will use these games in the North African region to assess the squad ahead of his first major task against Group A opponents Ethiopia and powerhouse Egypt in November.

The others in Group A are Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau and Djibouti in the race to the 2026 World Cup.

Leone Stars last outing in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying, Group Stage A final match ended in 2-1 defeat to Guinea-Bissua at the Estádio 24 de Setembro in September.

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East End Lions appoint Charlie Wright as head coach
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

East End Lions appoint Charlie Wright as head coach

One of Sierra Leone’s most decorated clubs, East End Lions, has appointed the former FC Kallon coach as their new head coach ahead of the new premier league campign.

The former national U20, U23 and homebased coach comes with a lot of Sierra Leone Premier League experience following his twelve-year spell with FC Kallon in the country’s highest tier of club football.

East End Lions finished last top-tier campaign third, but they’ll be looking to better that this campaign. The Sierra Leone Premier is set to kick off on the 3rd of November, the League Board have confirmed.

PLB say the winner of this year’s league will receive 500 million old leones and runners-up 250 million old leones 

“We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Class A Coach Charlie Wright as our new Head Coach. Coach Wright is set to lead our charge & develop the youth team. He will work with Coach Raymond Hunter and other coaches. Welcome, Coach Wright!,” The Eastern Giant Club confirmed this on Twitter.

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Ex-International Amidu Karim lands a Sierra Leone coaching job
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

Ex-International Amidu Karim lands Sierra Leone coaching job

Former Sierra Leone attacking midfielder Amidu Karim, who was part of the Leone Stars 1994 and 1996 African Cup of Nations squad, has been appointed provisional head coach of the national team.

The former U23 technician will be assisted By former homebased coach Francis Zappa Koroma and Bo Rangers Alhaji Foray as they start their groundwork ahead of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

The SLFA say Karim and his team will take charge of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers starting in November. Karim, 49, who has been assistant under John Keister during the AFCON in Cameroon and the 2023 AFCON qualifiers, will start a new journey in his coaching career.

His Leone Stars’ journey to qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Mexico and Canada will begin in November 2023. His first task will be a doubleheader against  Walia Ibex of Ethiopia before hosting the African powerhouse Egypt.

The draw for the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup finals placed Sierra Leone in Group A with five teams: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and Djibouti.

About the World Cup qualifiers Nine (9) Groups Fifty-four (54) Teams 

The Africa Zone (CAF) qualifiers for the 26 FIFA World Cup will begin on 13 November 2023 and end in November 2025.

Qualification process – The African teams will play across two rounds – the first contest of the group stage, with nine groups of six teams each. 

Each team will play ten home and away matches -the top finisher in each group will qualify for World Cup 26.

The second round will pit the four best runners-up in two one-off semi-finals, followed by a final. The winner of this second round will participate in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.

https://twitter.com/football_sierra/status/1709297482469949711

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The draw for the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup finals placed Sierra Leone in Group A with five teams: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and Djibouti.
The draw for the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup finals placed Sierra Leone in Group A with five teams: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and Djibouti.
Tricky away Champions League contest for Bo Rangers
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

Tricky away Champions League contest for Bo Rangers

Having suffered a heavy first leg 3-1 defeat to their Algerian counterparts, Bo Rangers travelled to face Chabab Riadhi Belouizdad for a place in the competition group stages.

Sierra Leone Champions Bo Rangers went down 3-1 at home to CR Belouizdad in the first leg of the second preliminary round of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League on Sunday, September 17 2023, at the Southern Arena.

As a result, Bo Rangers face a giant second-leg task as the return fixture is set to be played at the Oran Olympic Stadium in Algeria on September 30 2023.

Saturday’s meeting will be their fourth after both teams wrestled in this competition last season, but the Algerians again came off top with a 3-0 aggregate over two legs.

In the first leg at the Southern Arena, Sierra Leone back-back Champions started well when they capitalised on the 11-minute chance through Abu Komeh.

This will be the kind of start coach Alhaji Foray will be hoping for if they are to survive the wave in the Algerian city.

The Southern Province outfit departed Sierra Leone with a 23-man sqaud on Wednesday, September 27th, en route to Guinea for Algeria, highly motivated and determined to deliver a respectable result.

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Chabab Riadhi Belouizdad in Algeria training ahead of Bo Rangers tie on Saturday
Chabab Riadhi Belouizdad in Algeria training ahead of Bo Rangers tie on Saturday
FC Kallon eye CAF Confederation group stage ticket
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

FC Kallon eye CAF Confederation group stage ticket

Sierra Leone CAF Confederation Cup representative FC Kallon is in search of their first Inter-club group stage when they host Dreams FC on Saturday.

The Ghanain side won the first leg 2-1 at the Accra Sports Stadium, but with a narrow margin, Kallon as the host team at the Liberia Capital with genuine hope of reaching the competition group stage.

No Sierra Leonean club has reached the group stage of the second-tier competition of African club football since it was introduced in 2004.

In 2004, CAF merged the African Cup Winners’ Cup created in 1975 with the CAF Cup introduced in 1992 to form a new competition called the Confederation Cup, which has since been considered the second African club competition.

Dreams reached this competition stage after a 3-2 aggregate victory over Milo FC of Guinea.

Coach Karim Zito’s side came into the contest knowing their opponent was capable of goals. However, the coach is confident they can complete the job in Liberia.

“For us, reaching the next stage of the compoetition is our target- we are step closer of the two-sided game. Our obejective is to make sure we and qualify,” Zito was quoted as saying. 

The former Inter Milan and Monaco was the coach of his club (FC Kallon) in the CAF inter-clubs Confederation Cup last September when they progressed to the second qualifying stage of the competition. 

Under his guidance, they eliminated Buffles de Borgou of Benin 4-0 on aggregate – but they suffered a heavy defeat to the Egyptian side FC Future over the two legs in the second preliminary round.

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FC Kallon v Dreams CAF Confederation Second Round Second Leg
British-born Harry Varley set for SFEF's coaching program
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

British-born Harry Varley set for SFEF’s coaching program

British-born Harry Varley has agreed to be a special coaching educator in partnering with the Sports for Empowerment Foundation (SFEF) in Sierra Leone. 

Varley, 33, is a coach educator with 15 years of experience developing elite and grassroots youth development programs around the world. 

The African Football Recruitment specialist is a Leeds University graduate who has worked for several International organisations like the Right to Dream Academy in Ghana and Heads of Women’s Football in Grenada.

“Our role as a coach is to create problem solvers. The players should leave our program with the technical skills and decision making ability to allow them to independently find solutions to the complex problems that make up a 90 minute game of football,” Varley explained while speaking to SFEF media. 

The SFEF Grassroots coaches and management training will be rolled out from the 14th of October 2023 across Sierra Leone for up to three weeks.

SFEF tutoring will cut across the West African state areas like Lungi Port Loko District, Makeni in the Northern Province, Moyamba, Bo Southern Province, Kenema, Kailuhun, Kono Eastern Province of Sierra Leone., Kamakwei Karene District in Chiefdom Sella Limba.

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Sport For Empowerment Foundation Sierra Leone to kick start coaching tutoring and management training in October.
Sport For Empowerment Foundation Sierra Leone to kick start coaching tutoring and management training in October.
SLFA 'B' Licence Coaching Course commences
by FSL News

SLFA ‘B’ Licence coach training commences 

On Thursday, September 21, the Sierra Leone Football Association commenced a two-week License ‘B’ coaching training at their SLFA Secretariat at Kingdom, Freetown.  

SLFA affirmed that the training is mainly to enhance the capacity of grassroots coaches selected from across the country as part of the strategic plan of the SLFA Technical Department for the development of football in Sierra Leone.

Acting General Secretary Mohamed Benson Bawoh, Technical Director Ibrahim Bah, Schools Program and Facility Officer Samuel Davies and other officials were part of the opening ceremony.

In his keynote address, AGS-Benson Bawoh urged the over 60 participants to take the training with the utmost seriousness to take home the most coaching knowledge possible.

He disclosed that “as part of SLFA plans to develop coaches, CAF Technical Experts will soon visit Sierra Leone to asses and certify local Coaching Instructors ahead of the commencement of the CAF D, C, B, A and A Pro License courses”.

He further mentioned that the key aspect of developing football is coaching education, which he said will bring about sound technical decisions in Sierra Leone football.

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