By Barrie Alpha

Sierra Leone defeated South Africa 3-2 on Saturday 25th of November 2023, in the quarter-final match of the Sydney-Africa Cup of Nations which was hosted at the Wanderers Football Park in Black town.

Brima Kamara registered his fourth goal in the campaign when he opened the score line with a scintillating finish, but the fans were breathless with Bafana Bafana leveling terms 1-1 a few minutes later.

Joshua Aruna puts Sierra Leone ahead of the second time to register his first goal of the campaign. However, his celebration was cut short, following South Africa’s response to restore parity 2-2.

Musa Mansaray’s in the extra-time sealed a victory for Sierra Leone and they will face Central Africa Republic in the semi-final.

When addressing the team after the victory, Head Coach Yusuf Kamara applauded the performance of his side for the fantastic job and urged them to brace up for next week’s semi-final encounter against the Central Africa Republic, stating “If the quarter-final stage had eight fantastic teams, imagine the four of us that progressed to semi-finals so anything can happen,” he said.

He further stated that the fixture against the Central Africa Republic which was one of the unbeaten teams will be a difficult encounter.

“I have to be honest; I am expecting a very tough match against our next opponent because their records said it all. They are one of the three teams, including us and South Sudan who haven’t lost any game,” Kamara pointed out.

However, he expressed optimism about eliminating the Central Africa Republic to progress to the grand final adding that “nobody expected us to reach this far and you guys have to brace up for the challenge ahead. I am sure the experience this team has got in the past years, we will get the job done and take us to another final after five years,” Coach Yusuf Kamara asserted.

He commended the fans for their support since the commencement of the tournament and further called on the community to come out in large numbers and rally behind the team in the semi-final clash on Saturday.

“The fans were amazing and I would like to thank them especially those who came out during this bad weather to support the team,” he acknowledged.