New faces included in Sierra Leone provisional squad

New faces included in Sierra Leone provisional squad

Sierra Leone Coach, John Keister has named a 35-man provisional squad for September’s African Nations Cup qualifier at the Hawassa Stadium in Ethiopia.

Coventry City striker Amadou Bakayoko, Queen Park Rangers defender Osman Kakay, and Bristol City young keeper Alhaji Sesay, are all set to receive their first international call-up by Sierra Leone.

Denmark based attacker Mustapha Bundu, who is trading his football with AGF Arhus has also been named on the list seen by this medium.

Khalifa Jabbie and Gibrilla Wobay get another chance to impress despite both have been without a club. However, both were part of Coach Keister’s side that defeated Kenya in Freetown in the opener of the qualifiers.

Wobay, 34, scored Leone Stars first goal in Freetown June 10, 2017, in a 2-1 win over Kenya.

Skipper Umaru Bangura boost for Sierra Leone. The Leone Stars captained has returned to action with his Zurich-based club.

He played for 40 minutes in their 6-0 away win over Concordia last Saturday.

The named squad is still dominated with some old faces.

The likes of MLS based striker Kei Kamara, Midfielder Mohamed Medo Kamara, Kazakstan-based midfield enforcer John Kamara, new Al-Jabalain midfielder Alfred Sankoh, Turkey-based defender David Simbo as well as Swedish-based striker Alhassan Crespo Kamara.

Sierra Leone will take on Ethiopia at the Hawassa Stadium September 9 in the race to Cameroon 2019.

Full listed squad.

Keepers

Solomon Zombo Morris FC Rodeo France), (Alhaji Sesay Bristol City UK), (John Trye Scarborough SC Canada), (Mohamed N Kamara FC Johansen) and Unisa Koroma East End Lions.

Defenders

Skipper Umaru Bangura FC Zurich, David Simbo Turkey, Hassan Milla Sesay FC Lathi Finland, Abu Suma unattached, Osman Kakay QRP UK, Alie Sesay Kissamikos Greece, Yeami Dunia, Kemson Fofanah B93 Danmark.

Midfielders

Mohamed Medo Kamara Kuwait SC, Alfred Sankoh Al Jabalain Saudi Arabia, Michael Lahoud USA FC Cincinnati, John Kamara FC Kaisar Kazakhstan, Khalifa Jabbie Unattached, Abdul Sesay TP47 Finland, Kwame Quee Vikingur Iceland, Julius Wobay Unattached, Nathaniel Tongovullah Port Authority, Ibrahim Conteh PSIS FC and George Davies FC Riga Latvia.

Attackers

Kei Kamara Vancouver Whitecaps Canada, Alhassan Kamara BK Hacken, Alhaji Kamara FC Sheriff Moldova, Christian Moses Viborg FF Danmark, Mustapha Bundu AGF Arhus, Mohamed Buya Turay Sint Truiden Belgium, Sheka Fofanah Al-Nasr Oman and Abu Bakarr Kargbo Berliner AK Germany, Alimamy  Mohamed Bundu FC Kallon, Abdul Bangura unattached and Amadou Bakayoko Coventry City UK.

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Amadou Bakayoko scores first Coventry City goal in win over Plymouth Argyle.

Amadou Bakayoko scores first Coventry City goal in win over Plymouth Argyle.

Amadou Bakayoko scored his first Coventry City League One goal in win over Plymouth Argyle on Saturday. 

The Sky Blue side managed their first 1-0 win of the season over 10-man Plymouth Argyle at home.

The Sierra Leone-born opened the scoring from the penalty spot.

In a match with few clear-cut chances, Amadou Bakayoko’s 42nd-minute penalty proved the difference between the sides.

The striker’s first goal in sky blue came when referee Darren Drysdale adjudged Jordy Hiwula to have been tripped as he cut into the box from the left.

Plymouth’s ended the contest with ten-men after Jamie Ness was sent off in 58th-minutes.

He joined Coventry City from Walsall for an undisclosed fee.

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Players Abroad: Striker Kamara on target in title defeat to Toronto FC

Players Abroad: Striker Kamara on target in title defeat to Toronto FC

Kei Kamara scored again in title defeat to Toronto FC.

The striker goalscoring form continues last Wednesday but his strike was not enough for his Vancouver Whitecaps side to secure the Canadian Championship silverware this season.

Kamara’s Vancouver Whitecaps fell to a 5-2 defeat to Toronto FC in the second leg of the Canadian Championship final losing 7- 4 on aggregate.

The Sierra Leone forward goal came in late after Toronto FC opened the scoring on 39 minutes with a quick passing sequence ending on a finish from Jozy Altidore who went on to score hat-trick while teammate Sebastian Giovinco also got his name in the score sheet.

Kamara pulled one back midway through the second half for Whitecaps before Brek Shea scored another just under 15 minutes to play but their goals were not enough as Tosaint Ricketts rounded the scoring for the home side to lift the Voyageurs Cup.

The defeat leaves Vancouver Whitecaps to wait for another year as they have only won the Canadian Championship once in 2015 while Toronto FC who won the title for the third successive year has also secured there in the CONCACAF Champions League.

In Belgian Jupiler League:

Mohamed Buya Turay, who was on target on his debut for Belgian side Sint Truiden in it 1-1 home draw against Lokeren last Saturday, will be hoping to start for his new club away to Waasland-Beveren today.

Turay, 23, started on the bench against Lokeren but made an immediate impact with a brilliant header in the 84th minutes after coming on as a 61st-minute substitute to cancel out Guss Hurperts 78th minute opener for Lokeren at the Stayen Stadium.

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Ghana government moves to avoid Fifa ban

Ghana government moves to avoid Fifa ban

Fifa says the government of Ghana has pledged to stop the process to dissolve the country’s football association (GFA) over corruption allegations.

Earlier this week football’s world governing body gave Ghana until 27 August to withdraw a court case or face a global ban from football.

A Ghana high court petition, brought by the attorney general to have the football association liquidated, came in the wake of a film alleging corruption.

Fifa said the two sides had on Thursday agreed to work together “to offer leadership in reforming football administration in Ghana and in Africa.”

In addition Fifa said it would be working with the government “to eradicate corruption and malfeasance and other associated criminal conduct from the administration of football in Ghana.”

The two sides will set up a so-called “normalisation committee” to administer football in the country as well as a task force to create disciplinary, governance and auditing mechanisms.

“Satisfied with the above measures, the Ghanaian government shall take steps to discontinue the process for the winding up of the Ghana Football Association,” Fifa added.

However Fifa did not explicitly state that it had withdrawn its threat to suspend the GFA. Such a ban would mean the country’s national teams would be barred from international competition.

The GFA became embroiled in a scandal when its president Kwesi Nyantakyi was filmed by an investigative journalist in a hotel room appearing to take $65,000 in cash from a supposed businessman seeking to sponsor the Ghanaian football league.

Nyantakyi resigned from his posts as GFA president and from the posts he held with Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (Caf). He denies any wrongdoing.

Fifa, suspended Nyantakyi for 90 days on 8 June but he has now left his role on the Fifa Council.

Despite having itself suspended Nyantakyi, Fifa does not accept third party interference in its member federations and had therefore threatened to ban the GFA over the government’s action.

BBC Sports

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CAF Champions League: Wydad, Al Ahly aim to progress

CAF Champions League: Wydad, Al Ahly aim to progress

Four more teams can progress to the quarter-finals of the African Champions League this weekend after the fifth round of group matches.

Title-holders Wydad Casablanca of Morocco and eight-time winners Al Ahly of Egypt will both advance with wins.

Mouloudia Alger of Algeria and Primeiro Agosto of Angola both need to win and other results to go their way to qualify for the last eight.

DR Congo’s TP Mazembe along with Tunisia duo Esperance and Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia have already progressed.

Group A kicks off on Friday with already-qualified Esperance hosting Al Ahly in Tunis.

The Egyptians have managed to win on their last two visits to Esperance and will be looking to improve on their goalless home draw against the Tunis club three months ago.

Both teams are in good form after back-to-back victories over Township Rollers of Botswana and Kampala Capital City Authority of Uganda respectively.

“My target is simply to win every match,” stressed Al Ahly coach Patrice Carteron, the club’s first French coach.

KCCA host Rollers on Saturday with the two teams looking to avoid finishing bottom of the group.#

There is also a Friday evening match in Group B as Algeria’s Entente Setif host five-time champions Mazembe, who have already advanced.

A win for Setif would ensure that their local rivals Mouloudia Alger would not be able to clinch a quarter-final place this weekend.

However if Setif lose then Mouloudia would seal the second place with a win on Saturday in Morocco over winless Difaa el Jadida bring up the rear.

A draw for Setif would mean the second place from the group would be decided by their derby game against Mouloudia at the end of the August.

Friday’s match in Group C sees Guinea’s Horoya host Port of Togo while on Saturday South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns travel to play holders Wydad Casablanca.

The match in Morocco is a clash of the last two winners of the title and Wydad will earn a place in the last eight with a win.

Horoya are on five points from four matches while Port are on three and both know that a win will keep them in contention to progress.

Both Group D matches will be played on Saturday with Primeiro hoping to join Etoile du Sahel in the quarter-finals.

If the Angolan side are to reach the last eight with a match to spare they will have to win at Etoile du Sahel as well as banking on Zesco United of Zambia defeating Mbabane Swallows in eSwatini.

Primeiro coached by Serbian Zoran Manojlovic are still the likeliest team to join Etoile as they host Swallows in their final group match.

©BBC Sports

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Sheka Fofanah signs one-year contract with Al Nasr in Oman

Sheka Fofanah signs one-year contract with Al Nasr in Oman

The striker, who scored nine goals in fourteen appearances for El-Meerikh of Sudan has joined Al Nasr in Oman on a one-year contract.

Fofanah is another striking option for Sierra Leone’s head coach John Keister ahead of African Nations Cup qualifier against the Walias of Ethiopia next month.

The forward, who scored on his CAF Champions League debut for Al Merreikh in a 2-1 win over Township Rollers in Khartoum in February, told this medium he is happy after moving to Oman.

Fofanah scored a debut brace for Sudanese side El-Merrikh.

“I’m happy and looking forward to learning from a new experience. Playing time is most important to me.

“I want to score goals for this club and help them as much as possible,” he told footballsierraleone.net just after signing his new deal.

He has played for times for Leone Stars and was impressive scoring two goals, one each against Gabon in Franceville and Sudan in Freetown in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

Sheka, 20, started his career with local club Freetown City Council FC, before he was invited to trials with Swedish Champions IFK Norrkoping and later move to Denmark to signed for Danish 1st Division side Vejle Boldklub in 2016.

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