• It was the end of the road for Sierra Leone as Nigeria emerged victorious at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Stadium in the Liberian capital Monrovia in the Group A match day five African Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday.

The three-time African Champions prevailed with a 3-2 scoreline to secure their ticket to play at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023.

Napoli’s hit-man striker Victor Osimhen scored a brace in the 19th and 32nd minutes, respectively, to help the Super Eagles grab maximum points.

Sierra Leone came into the game knowing only a victory to revive their hopes of reaching AFCON 2023. In the 41st minute, Mustapha Bundu restored hope for the Leone Stars when he struck from the edge of the box to reduce the deficit just before the break.

Sierra Leone put up a show back from half-time, knowing they needed to score goals with renewed determination.

After a couple of half chances, Augustus Kargbo equalized with a powerful shot from outside the box. The momentum favoured the Sierra Leoneans, who continued to create opportunities, albeit leaving gaps for the ever-vigilant Super Eagles.

In the end, it was Leicester City’s attacker Kelechi Iheanacho, who seized the moment, securing Nigeria’s qualification with a crucial goal. This result also guarantees qualification for Guinea-Bissau.

The final group matches are to be played in September as Sierra Leone tackles Guinea-Bissua and Nigeria hosts Sao Tome.

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Sierra Leone’s head coach John Keister is not shying away from the fact that his side must win against Nigeria to rekindle hopes of reaching Ivory Coast 2023.

Having secured five points from four matches in the ongoing qualifiers, the technician backed his side to turn up against the three-time African Champions when the two sides lock horns at the SKD in Liberia on Sunday.

Speaking to Football Sierra Leone, the Manchester-born acknowledged that his young side must be positive in their approach over 90 minutes from kickoff.

“We know this is a match that we need to win, and therefore we have to be positive in our approach against a difficult Nigerian side – and we will definitely be.”

“We are a young group, but there is just this feeling that we can come here and get a result against Nigeria. It’s going to be a fight – we are ready to deal with whatever is thrown at us. Football is about the day who wants it the most.”

Sierra Leone to host the Group A leaders at the SKD Stadium in Liberia on June 18th. Nigeria won the first meeting between the two nations 2-1 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, on 09 June 2022.

Sierra Leone Stars have played all their home games in the race to Ivory Coast on the road away from Freetown, with no suitable ground in their country to host international matches.

Guinea-Bissau topped Group A of the qualifiers with ten points after five qualifying matches, followed by Nigeria with nine, while Sierra Leone is third with five points.

In seventeen meetings between the West African nations, Sierra Leone only managed two wins, ten defeats and five draws. 

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