Coach Amidu Karim has invited 23 man squad to tackle Zambia. Among the five major foreign players are Jay Tee Kamara of Columbus Crew, Emmanuel Samadia, Mohamed Kabia, Mbabne Swallows, Troyes U19 striker Moses Turay & Italy-based Demba Kamara have joined the Sierra Leone U23 squad ahead of 1st leg home tie at the SKD stadium in Liberia.

The winner will face Egypt, Eswatini, or Botswana for a place at the next U23 AFCON in Morocco. The Afcon U-29 will be staged in Morocco in June 2023.

Meanwhile, Zambia Coach Oswald Mutapa has also roped in Cosafa Under-20 Best Goalkeeper Jeban Tembo in the squad with Zambian Super League Napsa Stars forward Jimmy ‘Zobrigo’ Mukeya, Nkana’s Patrick Gondwe and Joshua Mutale of Power Dynamos making the cut.

The Zambian team has arrived in Monrovia on Thursday for the first leg, tie.The said tournament is the qualifiers for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The tournament proper is scheduled to take place in June 2023 in Morocco with 8 participating nations.