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When the nation's cup and world cup bells start ringing in and elite football nations starts marching on will Sierra Leone be there?
This was the questions agitating the minds of Sierra Leoneans as the country facing its 2011 campaign against the pharaohs of Egypt in Sierra Leone come Saturday 3rd September, 2011.
Despite its track records in the Competition, having drew 1-1 with the Pharoahs in Cairo, and defeating Niger in Freetown recently, making a vibrant come back to the competition, since becoming Zone II Champions in 1993, and qualified for the African Nation's Cup Tunisia in 1994. Where the team was dubbed the dark horse of the Tournament.
Famous and historical names like Sayo Marah, Ahmed Kanu, Bashiru King, Abubakarr Tostao, Mohamed Mansaray, Junior Tumbu, Junior Parade, Leslie Allen, Amidu Karim T/Boy Conteh, Alie Bangura, Rasim Wurie hold the enviable fame as Leone Stars that have made the fame to the African Cup of Nations, and attempted at the World Cup.
This is one achievement that would have continue to elude Sierra Leone Senior Team even though the junior Team U-17 surprised the world at the 2003 Junior World Cup in Finland recalling names like Captain Sam Barlay Zangalay, Obi, Unisa, Whitex, Khalil etc.
But if the absence of Sierra Leone from the continental and world stage has been confounded, Sierra Leone, then the lackadaisical approach to preparation for next week assignment as even more intriguing.
This has engaged the attention of the entire football loving nation, even more disturbing is the added question of whether or not the contract of the foreign coach should be confirmed with the Ministry of Sports and the F.A. are constantly at each other throats for who is responsible for the coaching of our darling Leone Stars to challenge the Pharaohs', and the organsing of the match in Freetown.
The Ministry signed an initial contract with the Swedish coach, subject to renewal, while Sierra Leoneans were pondering the outcome of F.I.F.A. balloting, that grouped Sierra Leone, Egypt, Niger, and Cape Verde, as well as the battle readiness of the national team.
The bombshell came that there were doubts about who is to select the team, as there are already two team sheets one prepared by the local technical staffs and another by the foreign coach to select players for the match against the Egyptians.
The bombshell came that there were doubts about who is to select the team, as there are already two team sheets one prepared by the local technical staffs and another by the foreign coach to select players for the match against the Egyptians.
This has generated a lot of controversy, but it is clear that every Leone Stars fans agrees that the two coaches should come together with mutual love and understanding even though few agrees that the timing is wrong.
For many Sierra Leoneans, the draw for the qualifiers favour Leone Stars if they win the Egypt encounter, provided the F.A. and the Ministry of Sports paired against the Pharaoh.
And for Sierra Leone preparation then to run into difficulty over who is to be the head coach is a bad omen.
Added to this is the fact that the attitude of the F.A. on one part, and the camping and training in general has not been best for victory, which raises the question of how focused and how well prepared is the team.
According to sources, the playing body is divided between the two coaches indicating that any attempt to remove the local coach on one side, and foreign coach on the other will lead to a boycott of the qualifying series.
One should advice that both the F.A. and the Ministry of Sports to concentrate on the training of both the home base and foreign base players and win the pending match against Egypt convincingly to ensure that Sierra Leoneans quest for the Nation's Cup appearance remain on course.
But the debates rages on with the population whose passion is football, deeply engaged in daily unhealthy discussion on the future of both coaches and Leone Stars, and Ministry of Sports and the F.A. much was seen to depend on the outcome of the impending match whose venue is in Freetown with a lot of controversy between the F.A. and the Ministry of Sports.
And perhaps F.I.F.A recent statements seeing the Ministry of Sports as interfering with the F.A. a message which was not good for the Ministry of Sports and those who supports his stances.
The local coach such as is being suggested as a replacement may not receive the same level of support by Leone Stars fans, and support given to the foreign coach whom they claimed is winning coach by both the Ministry of Sports, the foreign based playing body, and the populace may pose all manner of uncertainty and dangers to the team qualifying.
The foreign playing body seems to be rallying behind the Ministry of Sports and the foreign coach as it is gradually getting accustomed to his tactics, this time too his attention is not divided, the focus being solely on the nation's cup qualifiers and the world cup.
In the last decades, Sierra Leone has experimented with the German Burkhardpape, Swedish Palmgreen, Dusan Swedish Brazilian Nureigura, and currently Swedish.
In between these expatriates, the Sierra Leonean Obi Metzger, Abdulai Garrincha Sesay, John Jebo Sherrington, Christian Cole late Daniel Koroma "Diamond Toes", Musa Kallon, and the preserving Abu Sankoh "Short Abu" to name a few in the recycling turns to handle the team, Sierra Leoneans believed that such constant changes of coaches do not augur well for consistency.
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