The team manager for Sierra Leone’s national B team, Alhaji Umar Bah, has challenged his players with the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) if they beat Cape Verde and qualify for the next stage of the African Nations Championship (CAN) preliminary for the first time.

 

Sierra Leone will first face the Blue Sharks at the Grand Stade, Marrakesh, Morocco’s fourth capital, on Sunday, July 24th. The return leg will be played three days later, on July 27th, 2022. Sierra Leone has never advanced past the first qualifying round since the tournament’s inception in 2009.

 

The Team coordinator of the National B team, Victor Lewis, gave an overview of the gathering which is connected to the team’s preparedness ahead of its meeting with Cape Verde on the 24th and 27th of July. He expressed his satisfaction with the team’s development over the past weeks in training.

 

 

Team Manager Alhaji Umar Bah, started by extolling the technical team and players for their emphatic efforts in training amid the rains. “I am very impressed. I can recall that we played eleven (11) friendly matches, and we won ten and a draw; that gives me the courage that the boys will perform better against Cape Verde,” he said.

 

He also expressed his appreciation to the executive committee of the FA for their support to the team over the past weeks in Freetown and during camping in Kenema.

 

He maintained: “I mentioned in Kenema a few days ago that we need to make history. It is very clear that we’ve never gone through the first preliminary stage of the CAN qualifiers, but I am encouraged by the way the technical team is moving things. Based on that, I am insisting that we make more effort and make history.

 

“Based on the commitment shown by the technical team and players in their desire to right the wrongs and qualify for the second phase of the qualifiers, I am here to announce that if you guys eliminate Cape Verde and qualify to face Mali in the next phase, the sum of ten thousand dollars will be given to the team by me,” he promised.

 

He ended by stating his impression of the players’ compliance with camping rules during their stay in Kenema, and further expressed hopes that the team would put smiles on the faces of Sierra Leone football fans by qualifying for the next stage.

 

Vice President One (1) of the Sierra Leone Football Association, Harold Nat-Johnson, in his statement, started by praising the players for their relentless courage to train through rain or shine. He said it is the constitutional mandate of the SLFA to provide the enabling environment for football to play.

 

He admonished them not to feel inferior because they are with the national home-based team, but lauded their talents which he says are of huge potential to future national A teams. “I can see the zeal and enthusiasm from you all to deliver for this nation. With focus and dedication, you can make us all proud,” he maintained.

 

Sierra Leone and Cape Verde have met on eleven occasions with six wins for Sierra Leone, four losses, and a draw.