Sports Story

FREETOWN: SAHR MORRIS:

Coach Kanu to meets top African coaches
Leone Stars coach, Ahmed Kanu will joined other top African coaches on April 21 in Cairo, Egypt for a two day workshop organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

According to the African football governing body, the workshop is a part of the association’s effort to develop the game in the continent. The workshop will be held for head coaches of the 53-affiliated national associations.

CAF’s objective is to review the 26th MTN Africa Cup of Nations, which was held in Ghana 2008, and also identify key challenges in the pursuit of developing African football.

Speaking to Concord Sports, Coach Kanu welcomed the CAF opportunity, adding that he hopes to learn much from the workshop. “It is a great opportunity, to meet, share experience and teach with other coaches in the continent, I hope to gain from this, and in turn whatever gain I will return to our national team.”

CAF Director of Football Development, Abdel Moneim Hussein said “Having diversified opinions is an essential element in shaping the future of African football, especially with those who have the responsibility to prepare a team for its success and failure.”

Also in attendance for the workshops are experts from the world soccer governing body, FIFA and UEFA.

Egypt won CAF’s continental football tournament for a record sixth-time after beating Cameroon 1-0 in the final last February.


Stars proceed as Liberia pulled out
Sierra Leone U-17 squad, Sierra Stars have proceeded to the next stage of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) qualifying rounds without kicking a ball after its Liberian counterpart withdrew from the competition.
Sierra Stars were expected to face neighbouring Liberia on April 13 in Monrovia for the preliminary encounter, but reports from the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) yesterday confirmed that the Liberians have backed out from the competition.

According to the reports from SLFA, the Liberians pulled out of the competition due to certain undisclosed constrains.

However, speaking to Concord Sports about the news, Coach Christian Cole was content with the news adding that this has given him more time to prepare his boys for their next match against Gambia.

“The news is good. We were about to encamp yesterday when we got the news”, Cole said.

Coach Cole further noted that he is not going to relent in preparing his boys for the competition as he is aware of the capability of the Gambians.

Cole said, “The Gambians over the years have good record in junior football. We are not going to sit down and wait, when it remains two weeks for the match. We must eliminate them if we want qualify to the Africa Nation’s cup.”

Sierra Stars will have to face The Gambia away in Banjul on August 29, 30 or 31, and will later play the return leg in Freetown on either September 12, 13, or 14.



Salone triumphs over Mali, Nigeria defeats Ghana
Sierra Leone and Nigeria continues to dominate points in the ongoing North/West Africa cricket championship in Lagos, Nigeria. The two defeated Mali and Ghana respectively by wide margins.

On Sunday at the Abeokuta Ovals, Sierra Leone team gets another victory with an emphatic triumph over Mali by a whopping 379 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 60 overs.

Emmanuel Kamara top scored with 83 runs, followed by Abu Bakar Kamara, and Luseni Senesi scored 53 and 50 runs respectively.

Also on the score sheet are Jacob Mansaray 51 runs, Ibrahim Sesay 35 runs and Lansana Lamin scored 28 runs not out. Lansana Lamin and Gabriel Anthony got 7 and 2 wickets respectively.

Mali scored 12 runs all out in reply. Sierra Leone has earlier defeated Ghana in their opening match.

The same day at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Cricket Oval, host nation, Nigeria defeated Ghana by 145 runs to enhance its chances of retaining the Northwest Africa Cricket Championship trophy.

The defending champion scored 210 runs for wickets in 50 overs, while Ghana could only manage 65 runs all out.
This is the second defeat the Ghanaians are facing, while the host Nations celebrated their second victory.