By Bockarie Allieu
September 08, 2020, (SALONE TIMES)
FREETOWN – Christian Dauda has been reappointed as the Team Manager for the Sierra Leone Senior Male national team, Leone Stars.
He is with a technical team of four local coaches also appointed by the Sierra Leone Football Association. They are to sign three years contract with the government and more years to be added if they perform well.
In the statement of the Sports Minister, Ibrahim Nyelenkeh he urged the technical team to go all out to qualify Leone Stars for the Cameroon 2021 Nations Cup.
But in his interview with several media houses, the head coach of the team John Kiester said the team is in transition as several players are ageing with several others have already retired.
He said they need to recruit other players to replace the ageing ones. He went on that they are going to build a team mixed with old and young players.
Responding to the head coach statement, Christian Dauda said the technical people are no strangers to the national team as they have been working with the team with different coaches on several occasions.
He went on that they don’t need someone to introduce the players to them as they are with them day and night.
On the issue of building up the team with young and old players, he said it is timely as already four players have resigned.
These players are the teams No1 goalkeeper Zombo Moris, Kei Kamara (striker), Gibrila Woobay (midfilder) and the USA base midfielder Michael Lahood.
These players, he said need to be replaced to fill the gaps they have left behind and for which the replacement may come from local players or from those playing professional football out of the country.
For this, he said he is appealing to the government to put mechanisms in place to lift the ban on sports activities so that they will start training to scout out players to fill the gaps. Besides filling the gaps, he said CAF has released dates for the remaining matches in the Nations Cup qualifying, for which their opponents are now training.
Besides, he said the transition doesn’t mean they are not going to play to qualify if they have the chance. Sierra Leone having played two matches draw one at home lost one away will face the group leaders Nigeria home and away in November this year.
