by FSL News | 14 Jul, 2017 | Players Abroad News
- Chalobah, 22, who was part of the Chelsea premier league title-winning side last season, has signed for Watford on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
“Nathaniel Chalobah has sealed a permanent return to Watford from Chelsea, the Hornets are delighted to confirm,” Watford stated on their official website.
The versatile player was part of the England Under-21 side that reached the semi-finals of the European Championships in Poland last month.
In the 2012-13 seasons, Chalobah who is still eligible to play for Sierra Leone was on loan at Watford, making 42 appearances for the Hornets.
He has had spells with Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough, Burnley, Reading and most recently in Italy, with Napoli.
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by FSL News | 13 Jul, 2017 | Players Abroad News
Dundee football club have completed the signing of Finnish-born Arsenal midfielder Glen Kamara.
Kamara, 21, born to Sierra Leonean parents, who can also play in central midfield and at right back, has agreed on a two-year contract with the Dark Blues.
A club statement said: “We are delighted to announce the signing of Glen Kamara.
“Glen has been on trial with the club for the last two weeks and has impressed manager Neil McCann and his backroom staff in training and also in the pre-season matches against St. Mirren, Arbroath and Brechin City.”
Kamara is a graduate of the Gunners’ academy system, spending five years with the London giants.
He made his senior debut for Arsene Wenger’s side in 2015 against Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup and has subsequently had spells on loan with Southend and Colchester.
The youngster has represented both the Finland U19 and Finland U21 sides in internationals and was an unused substitute for the Finland senior side in a friendly against Estonia in June 2015.
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by FSL News | 12 Jul, 2017 | Players Abroad News
Foday Nabay battles for the ball with Brentford’s Brad Clayton (Image: Aldershot News and Mail)
Sierra Leone-born England youth international, Foday Nabay is reported undergoing trials with English National League side Aldershot Town with a view of securing a contract.
The 18-year-old midfielder was one of only two trialists who was featured for the fifth tier English league side who started their pre-season campaign with a 5-1 defeat to Championship side Brentford.
Nabay played 45-minutes for The Shots and manager Gary Waddock admits he is ‘looking at’ a move for the Fulham midfielder.
“He is still at Fulham,” Waddock explained. “We asked permission for him to train and play with us and they granted that so he will remain with us next week.
Waddock admitted: “We spoke to Fulham over the course of the week and asked if he could play [against Brentford] and they gave us permission for him to play. We are looking at him at the moment.”
A possible loan move could be on the table for the Sierra Leonean born who is still under contract at Fulham.
The midfielder who turns 19 on August 5 joined Fulham in the summer of 2013 from Birmingham City and have been described by the Cottagers as a ‘powerful central midfielder’ with the Championship club admitting they are expecting “big things” of him.
Despite already having five caps for the England U-17 side, the youngster is still eligible to play for his country of birth, Sierra Leone.
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by FSL News | 12 Jul, 2017 | Players Abroad News
Former Inter Milan hit-man Mohamed Kallon and former AC Milan Midfielder Rodney Strasser (Pictured) have joined in solidarity to support and endorsed the ‘FOOTBALL HEART PROJECT’.
The project was recently set up after the death of Ivory Coast international Cheick Tioté in China last month due to cardiac arrest.
Football Hearts is an awareness project that aims to stem the tide of heart-related diseases and cardiac arrests in football.
The project was publicly declared on June 26, commemorative of the 14th year memorial of the death of Marc-Vivien Foe, who also collapsed and died of cardiac arrest while playing for his country Cameroon at the 2003 Confederations Cup.
Speaking from the USA, the former Sierra Leone captain Mohamed Kallon said, “I’m not sure why it is more common in footballers than in any other sport.
“In my opinion, it happens because of a pre-existing undiagnosed heart condition and the arrest can just be triggered by the exercise (although it can occur at any time even at rest) so it seems.”
“One the thing I find surprising is that some professional athletes do not have regular screening for heart problems throughout their career, that why I have joined this project to help raised awareness and to see how we can find a solution to this, I and my family is in total support of this initiative,” the former AS Monaco striker noted.
According to him, it’s hard to fathom the number of heart attack deaths this year —in the world game we need to act fast and save the lives of others.
Sierra Leone and Genoa midfielder, Rodney Strasser, stressed that the death of Cheik Tiote is an eye-opener for all of us Professional footballers, Journalists, and doctors to join such a project to save lives on and off the pitch.
“I am pleased to be in solidarity with such a project,” the Genoa Midfielder said.
“For an African footballer, stress seems to be one factor that plays a part in these reoccurring cardiac arrests. The game of football for many, especially for those from poorer backgrounds, is more of a day job than anything. The pressure of providing for their families back in their homelands could take its toll on them.
“Also, with many African nations not having the adequate modern equipment to detect potential heart problems, there is a greater risk of hereditary or developing health issues that don’t get the necessary diagnosis,” Strasser explained.
He added, “With some of these people being footballers or sportsmen playing in Africa or even going to play abroad, especially in more obscure parts of the World, teams in those nations too potentially may not have the ideal equipment such as a Defibrillator to detect any heart issues, putting them at an even greater risk.
“But, this could be easily argued in Muamba’s case, who was playing for an established Premier League team with adequate financial stability at the time of his collapsing he pointed.”
Strasser who is in Freetown on holiday said he as an individual and the Rodney Strasser Foundation (RSF) will host football matches around to increase the sensitization about cardiac arrest on football players, we will also be organising health Clinic for players within Sierra Leone and the sub-region.
“Losing a player on the pitch to cardiac arrest is very devastating whereas it occurs mostly in football and footballers are the victims which have now become a concern by all the former AC Milan and Parma player noted.
“My foundation will play an active role to educate and support this project to save the lives of fellow soccer players,” he added.
In 2013, FIFA launched the FIFA Medical Emergency Bag and FIFA 11 Steps to prevent sudden cardiac death, giving all 209 FIFA member associations a Medical Emergency Bag (FMEB).
The 11 steps were aimed at raising the level of awareness and appropriate action for all those involved with football internationally. These efforts follow the decision of the FIFA Congress 2012 to provide each of the 209 MAs with an AED as an indication of the importance of the prevention of sudden cardiac death.
“I can’t say if this has helped prevent cardiac arrests in football as a whole. But it does seem to be raising more awareness across the globe about the severity of a cardiac arrest, he pointed out.
Names of some African Football players who are victims of cardiac arrest
Cheikh Tiote, Emmanuel Okwaraji (Nigeria), Amir Angwe (Nigeria)
Hedi Berkhissa (Tunisia), John Ikoroma (Nigeria)
Bobsam Elejiko (Nigeria), Endurance Idahor (Nigeria), Chinonso Ihelwere Henry (Nigeria), Victor Omogbehin (England), Marc-Vivien Foe (Cameroon), Mohammed Abdelwahab (Egypt)
Chaswe Nsofwa (Nigeria), Guy Tchingoma (Gabon), Orobosan Adun (Nigeria), Sekou Camara (Mali), Shetemi Ayetigbo (Ireland) David Oniya (Nigeria), Kodjo Etonam Adjassou (Togo), Bart Opoku (Ghana), Benjamin Owusu (Ghana), Mohamed Lemine M’Boye (Tanzania), Patrick Ekeng (Cameroon), Ambrose Wleh (Liberia)
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by FSL News | 11 Jul, 2017 | Players Abroad News
Sierra Leone striker, Victor Mansaray (in action) last Saturday made his first appearance for Seattle the Sounders since returning from his loan spell with FC Cincinnati.
The 20-year-old who was recalled to the Sounders in June came off the bench the 67th minute for Bruin.
Clint Dempsey scored the equaliser for Seattle in the 44th minute as the Sounders drew 1-1 with Eintracht Frankfurt in an international friendly before 40,667 at CenturyLink Field.
A few minutes after his cameo, the Sierra Leone international forced the Frankfurt keeper into a low diving save after he headed in a cross from Nouhou at close range.
He nearly had another chance in the box but his first touch betrayed him and the ball was knocked out for a corner.
Mansaray played 328 minutes and made four all-competitions starts during his loan spell.
He was a sub five times in league play with three starts in the league and one in the Open Cup.
In the U.S North American Soccer League (NASL), midfielder, Michael Lahoud was pivotal for Miami FC in their 7-0 thrashing of San Francisco Deltas. The Sierra Leone international who had full-time action also accounted for an assist in Stefano four goals thriller.
Mohamed Buya Turay and his AFC Eskilstuna continue to rack at the bottom of the Swedish league table as they were again defeated 1-0 by Sirius. Despite the full-time action, the Sierra Leone forward was unable to find the back of the net. Another Sierra Leonean who was at the defeating end was Ishmael Koroma whose Nykoping suffered a 3-1 defeat to Vasteras.
John Kamara and his Kaisar squad also suffered 2-0 defeat to Astana in the Kazastahn top flight league while in Iceland, midfielder Kwame Quee’s Víkingur Ólafsvík moved away from the relegation zone after a 0-2 away win over FH VS. Quee was substituted in 90+2 minutes.
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by FSL News | 7 Jul, 2017 | Players Abroad News
Bundu in AGF’s Uniform last season
Aarhus GF striker Mustapha Bundu is already looking forward to next season, which will be the Sierra Leonean first full season following his new four-year deal.
The 20-year-old youngster, who scored his first and only goal for AGF in a stunning 4-2 comeback victory over Viborg FF last season, is determined to go one step better in the coming campaign.
The Sierra Leonean, in December 2016 who signed a four-year deal to keep him at the club until summer 2021, said: “I’m looking forward to the new season and I’ll be fighting for a regular place in the team.
“My aim will be to get a double figure in goals and be involved as much as possible and hopefully be injury free.”
The youngster, who has set his sights on scoring goals for his Danish club if presented with first team action, added: “I signed on late with AGF last season and it took me some time to get into the first team, but after that, I was involved but mostly on the bench the after the Christmas break I was more involved,” Bundu said.
“After December last year, I played like 76-80% of the games which was good,” Bundu told footballsierraleone.net.
The former Hereford striker made fifteen appearances last season scored one goal. He is in contention to face Silkeborg tomorrow in AGF’s last pre-season tie.
He made his Danish Superliga debut as a substitute on 23 October 2016 in an away defeat to Brondby IF.
AGF will kick off their Danish Superliga 2017-18 campaign with a home tie on July 14 against AC Horsens.
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