Thousands Of Fans Take To The Streets In Wild Celebration As Small Country Qualifies For 1st AFCON in 25 years

Thousands Of Fans Take To The Streets In Wild Celebration As Small Country Qualifies For 1st AFCON in 25 years

Akan Anwankwo
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:42 PM
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CAF AFCON
Africa
  • Sierra Leone will be the 24th team competing in next January AFCON tournament
  • The Leone Stars defeated Benin Republic to secure the final spot at the soccer fiesta slated for Cameroon
  • Sierra Leone came second in Group L behind Nigeria as Benin and Lesotho failed to qualify

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Sierra Leone have secured their place in the AFCON 2022 following a 1-0 win over Benin Republic in Conakry, BBC.

The game was played on a neutral ground due to coronavirus concerns and officials claim the Siaka Stevens Stadium in Freetown was not good enough to host a match of that magnitude.

The two countries were battling for second place in Group L after Nigeria qualified from the group unbeaten.

Super Eagles AFCON qualifiers opponents get final ticket to Nations Cup
Sierra Leone qualify alongside Nigeria into the AFCON 2022 after beating Benin by 1-0. Photo by Issouf Sanogo
Source: Getty Images

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And the Leone Star only needed a single strike from Kei Kamara to make the difference between both sides.

Benin captain Khaled Adenon handled the ball inside the penalty area and it gave their opponents the opportunity from nine-yards to score, which they made no mistake.

The Leone Stars required a win to seal second place behind the Super Eagles as Benin only needed to go through with just a point, finished only finished ahead of Benin on goal difference.

Benin and Sierra Leone had an identical head-to-head record having both won their home matches by 1-0.

Sierra Leone now complete the 24- teams that will compete at the biggest soccer fiesta in Africa in Cameroon next year.

The game was not held on the scheduled date as news broke out six players tested positive to Covid-19 tests.

And only goalkeeper Ibrahim Sesay returning a negative result on Tuesday as the game went ahead.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Super Falcons came back from 2-0 down to draw with Portugal by 3-3 in their tour of the United States, Brila, NFF.

The Nigeria side had earlier lost by 1-0 to Jamaica in the first game but bounced back to avoid another defeat against the Portuguese.

The Randy Waldrum's ladies produced a better performance than the loss to the Reggae girls and they showed mental strength in their come back win.

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Akan Anwankwo
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