Sierra Leone plan ‘big surprise’ for Nigeria on Sunday

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Though Sierra Leone are the third-placed team in Group A of the Cote d’Ivoire 2023 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, that has not stopped the Leone Stars from thinking of causing another upset in the group that has Nigeria, Guinea Bissau and Sao Tome and Principe.

Guinea Bissau, in March, caused a major upset, when they defeated the Super Eagles of Nigeria in Abuja in the early stage of the qualifying series. That is what Sierra Leone has promised to replicate on Sunday when they host Nigeria in Monrovia, Liberia.

The Leone Stars have five points from four matches against the nine points by the Super Eagles, while Guinea Bissau have seven points with Sao Tome and Principe sitting at the bottom of the table.

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Speaking ahead of the clash with the Super Eagles, Leone Stars striker, Ismael Dumbuya, said he is optimistic of turning the table against the Super Eagles despite the availability of top stars in the Nigerian squad.

Dumbuya, who is based in Liberia, is one of the late calls up into the team after seven of their invited players dropped out of the squad.

Speaking through the Sierra Leone Football Association, Dumbuya said their main goal is to beat Nigeria on Sunday. “I hope to make the final squad for the game against Nigeria, and our target is to beat Nigeria and qualify for the next AFCON,” he said.

A win for the Leone Stars on Sunday will revitalise their hope of qualifying for the 2023 African Cup of Nations to be hosted in Cote d’Ivoire.

Meanwhile, captain of the Leone Stars, Steven Caulker, is a major doubt for the game, according to BSNSports.com.ng reports.

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Coach John Keister released the list of invited players for the game last week and Caulker’s name was among the invitees. But the former Fulham defender sustained the injury while representing his club, Wigan, in a league game. Although he underwent a successful surgery, he is still recuperating barely four days before the game.

He gave the update through his social media handle on Wednesday. “Being injured is certainly not fun. This new treatment delivered by St. James Wellbeing Clinic is brutally painful but super effective,” he posted.

Three-time champions, Nigeria, will fire from all cylinders at the Paynesville, conscious that second-placed Guinea Bissau, two points behind, are likely to inflict defeat on group whipping boys, Sao Tome and Principe, in the other match of the pool.

In the last weeks of 2020, the Leone Stars famously came from 4-1 down to draw 4-4 with the Super Eagles at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City in another Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match (Cameroun 2021), and few days later, held the Eagles to a barren draw at the Siaka Stevens Stadium in Freetown.

When both teams clashed on Day 1 of the ongoing series at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja a year ago, the Leone Stars drew the first blood before goals by Alex Iwobi and Victor Osimhen put Nigeria in the driving seat. The Eagles flew to Agadir, Morocco some days later to inflict a 10-0 defeat on Sao Tome and Principe, in the event setting a new international win-record.

All of Nigeria’s invited players for the game are now in Super Eagles’ camp in Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

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Hostilities at the 22,000-capacity arena will begin by 5.00p.m. Nigeria time (4.00 p.m. Liberia time) as the Super Eagles seek to reach the finals of the competition early next year, with a game to spare.

For the last edition of Africa’s flagship football championship, the Super Eagles qualified for the finals with a game to spare after Paul Onuachu headed in with few minutes left against Benin Republic’s Guepards in Porto Novo.

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Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed Sudanese official, Mahmood Ali Ismail, as the referee, with his compatriot, Mohammed Abdallah Ibrahim, as assistant referee 1. Liban Abdourazak Ahmed from Djibouti will serve as assistant referee 2, with Mohamed Diraneh Guedi, also from Djibouti, in the role of fourth official.

Gambia’s Bakary Jammeh will be the commissioner, while Kokou Djaoupe from Togo will serve as referee assessor.

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Credit: The Guardian

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Sanya Onayoade

Continental Editor, North America

SANYA ONAYOADE is a graduate of Mass Communication and a Master of Communication Arts degree holder from the University of Ibadan. He has attended local and international courses on Media, Branding, Public Relations and Corporate Governance in many institutions including the University of Pittsburgh; Reuters Foundation of Rhodes University, South Africa and Lagos Business School. He has worked in many newspaper houses including The Guardian and The Punch. He was the pioneer Corporate Affairs Manager of Odua Telecoms Ltd, and later Head of Business Development and Marketing of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO Plc).

He has led business teams to several countries in the US, Asia and Europe; and was part of an Aviation investment drive in West Africa. He has also driven media and brand consultancy for a few organizations such as the British Council, Industrial Training Fund, PKF Audit/Accounting Firm and Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme. He is a Fellow of Freedom House, Washington DC, and also Fellow of Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria. Sanya is a member of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and Project Management Institute (PMI). He is a 1998 Commonwealth Media Awards winner and the Author of A Decade Of Democracy.
Morak Babajide-Alabi

Morak Babajide-Alabi

Continental Editor, Europe

Morak Babajide-Alabi is a graduate of Mass Communication with a Master of Arts Degree in Journalism from Napier University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He is an experienced Social Media practitioner with a strong passion for connecting with customers of brands.

Morak works as part of a team currently building an e-commerce project for the Volkswagen Group UK. Before this, he worked on the social media accounts of SKODA, Audi, SEAT, CUPRA, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. In this job, he brought his vast experience in journalism, marketing, and search engine optimisation to play to make sure the brands are well represented on social media. He monitored the performance of marketing campaigns and data analysis of all volumes of social media interaction for the brands.

In his private capacity, Morak is the Chief Operating Officer of Syllable Media Limited, an England-based marketing agency with head office in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The agency handles briefs such as creative writing, ghostwriting, website designs, and print and broadcast productions, with an emphasis on search engine optimisation. Syllable Media analyses, reviews, and works alongside clients to maximise returns on their businesses.

Morak is a writer, blogger, journalist, and social media “enthusiast”. He has several publications and projects to his credit with over 20 years of experience writing and editing for print and online media in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Morak is a dependable team player who succeeds in a high-pressure environment. He started his professional career with the flagship of Nigerian journalism – The Guardian Newspapers in 1992 where he honed his writing and editing skills before joining TELL Magazine. He has edited, reported for, and produced newspapers and magazines in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Morak is involved in the development of information management tools for the healthcare sector in Africa. He is on the board of DeMiTAG HealthConcepts Limited, a company with branches in London, Lagos, and Abuja, to make healthcare information available at the fingertips of professionals. DeMiTAG HealthConcepts Limited achieved this by collaborating with notable informatics companies. It had partnered in the past with Avia Informatics Plc and i2i TeleSolutions Pvt.

Out of work, Morak loves walking and also volunteers on the board of a few UK Charity Organisations. He can be reached via http://www.syllablemedia.com
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Ademola Akinbola

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Brief Profile of Ademola Akinbola

Ademola AKINBOLA is an author, publisher, trainer, digital marketing strategist, and a brand development specialist with nearly three decades of experience in the areas of branding, communication, corporate reputation management, business development, organizational change management, and digital marketing.

He is the Founder and Head Steward at BrandStewards Limited, a brand and reputation management consultancy. He is also the Publisher of The Podium International Magazine, Ile-Oluji Times, and Who’s Who in Ile-Oluji.

He had a successful media practice at The Guardian, Punch and This Day.

He started his brand management career at Owena Bank as Media Relations Manager before joining Prudent Bank (now Polaris Bank) as the pioneer Head of Corporate Affairs.

The British Council appointed him as Head of Communication and Marketing to co-ordinate branding and reputation management activities at its Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt offices.

In 2007, he was recruited as the Head of Corporate Planning and Strategy for the Nigerian Aviation Handling company. He led on the branding, strategic planning and stakeholder management support function.

His job was later expanded and redesigned as Head of Corporate Communication and Business Development with the mandate to continue to execute the Board’s vision in the areas of Corporate Planning and Strategy, Branding and New Businesses.

In 2010, he voluntarily resigned from nacho aviance to focus on managing BrandStewards, a reputation and brand management firm he established in 2003. BrandStewards has successfully executed branding, re-branding and marketing communication projects for clients in the private and public sectors.

Ademola obtained a M.Sc. Degree in Digital Marketing & Web Analytics from Dublin Institute of Technology in 2016, and the Master of Communication Arts degree of the University of Ibadan in 1997. He had previously obtained a Higher National Diploma (with Upper Credit) in Mass Communication from Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta.

He has published several articles and authored five management books.

He has benefitted from several domestic and international training programmes on Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Change Management and Organizational Strategy.
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