Stars Proceed As
Liberia Pulled Out
By Sahr Morris Jnr
Freetown
Sierra Leone U-17 squad, Sierra Stars have proceeded to the next stage
of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) qualifying rounds
without kicking a ball after its Liberian counterpart withdrew from
the competition.
The Stars were expected to face neighbouring Liberia on April 13 in
Monrovia for the preliminary encounter, but reports from the Sierra
Leone Football Association (SLFA) yesterday confirmed that the
Liberians have backed out from the competition.
According to the reports from SLFA, the Liberians pulled out of the
competition due to certain undisclosed constrains.
However, speaking to Concord Sports about the news, Coach Christian
Cole was content with the news adding that this has given him more
time to prepare his boys for their next match against Gambia.
"The news is good. We were about to encamp yesterday when we got the
news", Cole said.
Coach Cole further noted that he is not going to relent in preparing
his boys for the competition as he is aware of the capability of the
Gambians.
Cole said, "The Gambians over the years have good record in junior
football. We are not going to sit down and wait, when it remains two
weeks for the match. We must eliminate them if we want to qualify to
the Africa Nation's cup." Sierra Stars will have to face The Gambia
away in Banjul on August 29, 30 or 31, and will later play the return
leg in Freetown on either September 12, 13, or 14.
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