The Leone Stars haven’t qualified for the African Cup of Nations since the 1996 edition and that is likely to remain the case, but they are still in with a chance to make it to the next tournament as they are only three points behind Group G leaders South Africa. They will need to gather all three points against Egypt and hope for a huge favour from Niger against Bafana Bafana before facing SA themselves in their final fixture.
So far their best result of this campaign was their 1-1 draw in Cairo and they will seek to improve on that scoreline when they host the Pharaohs on Saturday. The only issue is that, although individually talented, the team as a whole is largely inconsistent as evidenced by a 3-1 away loss to Niger after pulling off such an amazing feat against the Egyptians in hostile territory.
The Pharaohs are officially rebuilding
At the start of 2012 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying, if someone had asserted that defending continental champions Egypt would not only be essentially eliminated from the Gabon and Equatorial Guinea edition but also bottom of their group, they would have been called mad. However, the fall has been hard and fast for the perennial kings of Africa who saw the reign of Hassan Shehata end with a whimper.
Looking back at where it all went wrong, it is clear that the opening 1-1 home draw against Sierra Leone, their next opponents, was a major factor. However, South Africa take most of the credit for managing to beat the Pharaohs in Johannesburg before securing a draw of their own at the Cairo International Stadium to seal Egypt’s fate. While the Egyptian Football Association are still looking for a permanent replacement for their sacked master tactician, its been decided that the Under-23 team will play the remaining two fixtures.
TEAM NEWS
Sierra Leone
One of the main story-lines in Sierra Leone’s camp is the dysfunctional relationship between the country’s FA and it’s Ministry of Sports who had an argument over who should lead the side. The FA had sought to maintain Christian Cole as the main man but he’s been demoted to assisting the Ministry’s pick, Lars Olof Mattsson. There was also confusion over whether youngster Khalifa Jabbie would make the trip, but it now appears he will.
Probable starting XI:
Caulker; Koroma, Simbo, Kargbo, Sama; Sankoh, Bangura, Suma, Strasser; Bangoura, Kamara
Egypt
Egypt have provoked South African fury with their decision to field an U23 team in the next two remaining fixtures. One veteran has been kept-on by coach Hany Ramzy and it is Ahmed Hassan who only needs three games of international action to match Saudi Arabia’s Mohamed Al-Daeyea’s caps world record.
Probable starting XI:
Gabal; Al-Henawy, Hegazy, Fattah, Ramadan; Gaber, Hassan, Al-Solya, Al-Neny; Salah, Sharweda
PREDICTION
Although South Africa’s Pitso Mosimane said he was disappointed with Egypt’s decision to field a young squad, the next generation of Pharaohs could spring a surprise in Sierra Leone as they will be eager to prove that they are ready to return their country to the summit of African football. Inexperience and a lack of muscle may penalise them though, and a draw is more likely against a highly athletic Sierra Leone side.
Sierra Leone 2-2 Egypt
