Leone Stars will play Cape Verde this weekend in Praia in the penultimate round of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers without three key players Kei Kamara, Sheriff Suma and Ibrahim Teteh Bangura. USA based Kamara formerly of Premier League side Norwich City and Bangura playing in Turkey will not be traveling to Praia due to groin injuries whilst Suma presently without a club is suspended for picking up a second consecutive yellow card against Tunisia in Freetown last weekend. Kamara who picked up his award as sierraleonefootball Sierra Leonean player of the year 2012 last week and scored Leone Stars opener in a 2-2 draw with Tunisia last weekend said that he was not happy that he was missing the game. He told sierraleonefootball: “I can confirm I’ll not be playing against Cape Verde because I’ve a groin injury which I need to treat to get back to action in the shortest possible time.” “I’m not happy that I’m missing our important game against Cape Verde as I always like to play and give my best for my country,” added the Sporting Kansas City player. I’ll have to travel this week to the USA to try and cure the injury. It’s an injury I’ve been coping with it as I’ve been taking some medicines. I’m sure it’s hurting me now because I stopped medication since arriving in Freetown.” “I wish my colleagues the very best of luck in Praia.” The Leone Stars coach Jonathan McKinstry admitted that Kamara is an important player in his squad but says he would fine his replacement. “Surely we’ll me missing Kei Kamara because he’s an important player, he even scored a goal against Tunisia last weekend and this tells you how important he is in our team. “We have no option but to play without him and there are other players in the team who can take his place.” Another player who will not making the journey to Praia is home-based goal keeper Ibrahim Tarawallie known as Banjul. He was in between the post against Tunisia and made a mistake that denied his team a vital victory. Two goal keepers Solomon Zombo Morris based in France and John Trye playing in USA have been called up and are expected to travel direct to Praia from their respective locations; they’ll join Habib Sesay of local club Ports Authority FC. These goal keepers are among 21-players that will be in the Praia for the group B fixture as 19 of them will depart Freetown on Wednesday and are expected to arrive in Cape Verde the same day. Among the infield players is England based Abdulai Bel- Baggie who alongside Chelsea youngster Aziz Deen Conteh are yet to be given clearance by world’s football governing body, FIFA to play for Sierra Leone. But Bel-Baggie is hoping to get the clearance before the game. Aziz Deen Conteh will not make the trip as he was asked out of camp on Monday by Coach Jonathan McKinstry on the grounds that he was not focused and impressive in training. Leone Stars have a very slim chance of qualifying to the play-offs stage of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers because they are second in group B behind leaders Tunisia who now only need a point in two matches to qualify. Cape Verde on the other hand are completely out of the race. Leone Stars delegation to Cape Verde Officials Hon. Martin Bangura- Chairman Parliamentary Committee for Sports Alphan Coker- Acting Director of Sports Milton Boyle- Member of SLFA Normalisation Committee Abdul Rahman Swarray- SLFA General Secretary Sorie Ibrahim Sesay-SLFA Media officer James Fofana-Team Coordinator Jonathan McKinstry- Head Coach John Keister-Assistant Coach Tom Harris-Assistant Coach Tamba Moses-Goal Keeper Coach John Ansumana- Team Doctor Darren McKinstry-Medico Philip Kore- Masseur Players: Goal Keepers: Habib Sesay (Ports Authority FC), Solomon Zombo Morris (FC Rouen, France), John Trye (Northern Virginia, USA) Defenders: Mustapha Dumbuya (Crawley Town, England), Umaru `Zengalay` Bangura (Haugesund), Samuel Bangura (Chelsea, England), David Simbo (Sandviken, Sweden), Gibril ‘Barel’ Sankoh (Henan Jianye, China), Ibrahim ‘Marcel’ Koroma (Varbergs BoIS, Sweden) Midfielders: John Kamara (Apollon Smirnis, Greece), Mohamed Medo Kamara (Bolton Wanderers, England), Alfred Sankoh (Sanliurfaspor, Turkey), Samuel Barlay (Raevan, Azerbaijan), Abdulai Bel-Baggie (Tranmere Rovers, England), Ibrahim ‘Obrey’ Kargbo (FK Baku, Azerbaijan), Alhassan ‘Crespo’ Kamara (Örebro SK, Sweden), George `Kweku` Davis (Right To Dream Academy in Ghana), Khalifa Jabbie (Fredrikstad, Norway) Strikers: Mohamed ‘Poborsky’ Bangura (Elfsborg, Sweden), Sulaiman Fullah Sesay (Etar 1924, Bulgaria), Mustapha ‘Hadji’ Bangura (AEK Larnaca)
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 08:44:30 +0000
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