AFCON 2023 - Sierra Leone: Kallum Cesay and Kamil Conteh, two dual nationals determined to qualify
Kallum Cesay and Kamil Conteh are two dual nationals determined to help Sierra Leone qualify for the AFCON. Both were born in England and both play for Sierra Leone.
Sport News Africa · Author profile ·
Listen to this story
Audio version in preparation · read aloud by your browser meanwhile
The Sierra Leone national team are determined to qualify for AFCON 2023. To get there, the Leon Stars can count on two exciting prospects, Kallum Cesay and Kamil Conteh. Cesay and Conteh. Both aged 20, they were born in London but have chosen to represent their country of origin.
Cesay's father is a former boxer who represented Sierra Leone at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and was one of their coaches at the 2021 World Boxing Championships in Serbia. "I want to achieve limitless things with Sierra Leone. I want to be at the AFCON and at the World Cup", said Cesay, who plays for Tottenham's U23s. He has four appearances for the Leone Stars and scored twice on his international debut against Congo-Brazzaville (2-1) in a friendly tournament in March 2022.
Read also: Friendly: Sierra Leone follow up against Congo
Conteh has five caps. He made his debut in the same tournament, in a 3-0 defeat by Togo. Both played their first competitive matches in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau in June 2022. Like Cesay, Conteh has qualification for AFCON 2023 firmly in his sights. He says: "Our next two qualifiers are against São Tomé, home and away in March, and if we get six points, I think qualification will definitely be in our hands. But we have to take it one game at a time. We are going through a transition phase, from older players like Kei Kamara and Umaru Bangura to younger ones."
Sierra Leone are in Group A of the qualifiers for AFCON 2023 in Ivory Coast. The Leone Stars are currently third with just one point. They are well behind Nigeria (6 pts) and Guinea-Bissau (4 pts).