Sierra Leone gained much needed traction in their bid to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this week, following a tense 2-1 victory against Djibouti at Stade El Abdi on Wednesday night.
After edging Djibouti to the ball possession count early on, the Leone Stars managed to make the most of their early pressure and subsequently opened the scoring in the 12th minute.
With Curtis Davies getting his name on the scoresheet, the 39-year-old marked his competitive national team debut with a goal.
Djibouti were awarded a penalty soon after the half-hour mark, after Emmanuel Samadia deliberately handled the ball inside his own 18-year-old area. In stepping up to the spot, Gabriel Dadzie made no mistake in sending the goalkeeper in the opposite direction.
The game reached a tacky period shortly before the break as neither side were able to create any notable goal scoring opportunities.
The Leone Stars retook the lead in the 51st minute, as Augustus Kargbo joined Davies on the scoreboard. After controlling a difficult high ball inside the box, the attacker evaded his opposite number before finishing from a tight-angle.
Despite Sierra Leone’s lead, Djibouti were urgent in their attacking moves and actively searched for their second goal. The Leone Stars however, looked to kick into game management mode with a number of defensive substitutions from the bench.
After seeing out the game with relative ease, Sierra Leone held on to secure a much-needed 2-1 win in Morocco.
Sierra Leone: Kamara, Davies, Kabia, Kakay, Alusine Koroma, Samadia, Kaikai (Conteh 67’), Bakayoko (Kanu 67’), Bundu (Dumbuya 79’), Alhassan Koroma (Sillah 88’), Kargbo (Michael 79’)
Djibouti: Luyima, Farada, Siad, Abdi (Omar 72’), Hamadou, Mohamed, Elabeh (Elmi 90’), Aden (Ramadan Abillahi 73’), Akinbinu, Dadzie, Abdillahi
