Head coach of Sierra Leone national team, John Keister has told www.aclsports.com that his side his unfazed by Nigeria’s impeccable record against the Leone Stars as both teams meet in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier (AFCON2021Q) on Friday.
Keister, who turned 50 on Wednesday, was part of the Leone Stars team that defeated Nigeria 1-0 in a World Cup qualifying game in Freetown in April 2001 and the former midfielder says his team are looking forward to Friday’s game.
“We are looking forward to it, it’s going to be a difficult game,” began the Manchester born coach.
“There are no easy games in football so the game is not going to be any different so we’re looking forward to it.
We have a squad and we’re working within the squad so we’ll make the most of the players we have.”
On Nigeria’s record of nine wins out of fourteen meetings with the Leone Stars, Keister thinks a form of deja vu from 2001 might just happen for his team.
“To be honest I don’t look at records, they are there to be broken. The second time we beat Nigeria I was part of the team so you never know, a deja vu might just happen,” said Keister.
The Leone Stars are bottom of Group L in the race to qualifying for the next Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon with one point from their opening two matches while Friday’s opponents Nigeria, top the group with maximum six points.
Friday’s game at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City will kick off at 5pm Nigerian time.
Fisayo Dairo, reporting from Benin City
