Leone Stars’ Head Coach Amidu Karim has said that he contacted Steven Caulker as a result of his leadership abilities.

He made this statement early on Friday while responding to social media comments questioning his decision to invite Steven who has not been playing active football for a while now.

“I’m assembling a new team and can’t review all the past players simultaneously. I have young players who can learn from these veteran players, such as Adriano and others. They will both play and guide the team, as I did in Liberia where they all contributed to helping the team with their expertise.

“The young players are energetic. They have the zest to play, but they need to learn and be guided. That’s what we are doing, and I’m strongly confident it will work for us,” he remarks, calling on all to be patient and keep supporting the players as football has a lot of technicalities that young players have to learn.

On the social media outrage, Coach Karim says it is normal for members of the public to raise concerns and that as a coach in charge of the National Team, he is obliged to answer to those questions and concerns raised and that he carefully consider them.

“Let’s be hopeful. We will try our best and put smiles on the faces of Sierra Leoneans. All that we need from the nation is to rally behind us. It is a tough task, but we are up for it with my team,” he says.

On the march to FIFA World Cup 2026 Africa Qualifier, Sierra Leone will engage Djibouti on June 5, 2024, at the Stade El Abdi in Morocco before taking on Burkina Faso at the Stade de 26 Mars in Bamako Mali on June 10, 2024, five days later.

The homegrown gaffer is ramping up efforts at the best time to deliver Sierra Leone’s payload into global tournaments through the qualifiers.

 Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Friday, May 20TH, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)