Leone Stars Like, 47 other nations, will know their group opponents in the race to Ivory Coast 2023 this month after the Confederation of African Football confirmed the draw.

The road to Cote’d Ivoire Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations will gain momentum in June 2022 when the Group stages commence.

However, if Sierra Leone is to thrive in AFCON and World Cup Qualifiers, there are four major lessons football administrators in the country should learn from the Teranga Lions of Senegal.

The Senegal national football team (French:Equipe de football du Senegal), nicknamed the Lions of Teranga, represents Senegal in International football competitions and is operated by the Senegalese Football Federation.

Senegal is among the Top 20 countries in the latest men FIFA World Football Ranking .The
ranking system awards point based on the results of all FIFA- recognised Football Matches.

The Teranga Lions of Senegal recently won the 2021 AFCON Competition hosted in Cameroon. The team has further qualify for the 2022  men’s football World Cup in Qatar after defeating the Pharaohs of Egypt.

Senegal attaining Global recognition in international football is not attain by sudden flight. However, there are four key major lessons Sierra Leone  football administrators should learn from the Teranga Lions of Senegal. The lessons are important because  they serve as a backbone to their success in  current African football dominance.

 

Firstly; The Senegalese Football Association has a Proper Academy system and Football Agents. The country is the highest ranked football team in Africa, and one major reason is the role played by local academies such as Generation Foot , which developed Players such as Africa’s most expensive player, Liverpool’s Sadio Mane. We cannot also detach the French connection between Senegal and France. However, Sierra Leone as a football nation lacks proper football Academy system to develop young Players within the grass root system. A clear manifestation of this challenge is the famous Craig Bellamy football Academy which currently lies in a dilapidated state of ruin as a result of mismanagement.

Secondly: Senegal Football Association has a Proper Football Administration, Procedures and Structures.  A clear manifestation of these procedures and structures is the special desk that monitors and offer advice to Senegalese professional footballers on decisions about players transfers to various clubs abroad in the Football Association. The football officials in that special desk guide players to choose teams where they will get quality playing time. Officials of the said desk know that if players get more playing time in their respective clubs, Teranga Lions would benefit from their output during international assignments.
Sierra Leone Football Association Association should emulate similar approach to enhance players productivity within the Leone Stars Squad.
Football is a game that has to be  guided with proper administration. If Sierra Leone wants to compete with countries like Senegal, thus the Sierra Leone Football Association has to enhance proper football administrative Procedures and Structures.

Third Lesson: Senegalese Football Team has Quality Players and a Very experienced Coach:

Looking into facts about the Senegal national football team squad, their current coach, current world ranking, and AFCON progress can justifies they have quality players and a very experienced coach. Senegal is among the strongest teams in Africa, with Several trophies to their names and numerous appearances in AFCON. They  recently won the 2021 Total AFCON unbeatable with these quality players.

They have had successful runs in most competitions they have taken part part in. The players play in Top-flight leagues all over the world. Their AFCON appearances have almost been certain.
However, after 1994 and 1996 Nations Cup,  Sierra Leone  have been struggling to get quality professional players that play in top top-flight Leagues all over the world. This has led to the absence of Sierra Leone in the African Cup of Nations for over 20 years. However, Leone Stars appears recently in the 2021 AFCON Competition in Cameroon.

It is no secret that one of  the major reasons why the current Leone Stars Coach, John Keister, Keeps experimenting players is the struggle to identify quality Sierra Leonean footballers in the diaspora. A majority of Sierra Leone professional footballers do not  play in Top- Flight Leagues in Europe. Thus, there is the need to develop the Sierra Leone Premier League.

Finally, The Teranga Lions of Senegal do get Very Good Call-Ups for International Football Competitions.

The team has a 28 man squad with an average age of 26 years from top flight European Leagues . They have four goalkeepers, three center-backs, three-left backs ,two right backs, six defensive Midfielders two left wingers, one right-winger and five center forwards.

The Goalkeepers are Edouard Mendy(Chelsea), Alfred Gomis, Seny Dieng and Aliou Badara Faty,

The Center backs are Kalidou Koulibaly(Napoli Italy ), Pape Abou Cisse(Olympiakos) and Abdolaye Seck(Antwerp Belgium).

The Left backs are Abdou Diallo(Paris Saint German France), Fode Ballo-Toure (AC Milan)and Saliou Ciss, .(Nancy France)

The Right backs are Bourna Sarr(Bayern Munich Germany) and Ibrahima Mbaye (Bologna Italy),

The defensive Midfielders are Pape Sarr, Idrissa Gueye(PSG), Pape Gueye, Nampalys Mendy, Cheikh Kouyate(Crystal Palace England) and Mamadou Loum( Deportivo Alves Spain)

The Center Midfielders are Moustaphe Name (Paris FC France) and Joseph Lopy(Sochaux France).

Right-winger is Ismaila Sarr, (Watford England)

The center forwards are Boulaye Dia, Habib Diallo( Strasbourg Germany )Bamba Dieng(Marseille France), Keita Balde(Cagliari Italy ), and Famara Diedhiou(AlanyasporTurkey)