Former Leone Stars Captain Mohamed Kallon has revealed that he sees Aliou Cisse as a role model and takes inspiration from him.

He is looking forward to following in the footsteps of Cisse, who won the Afrca Cup of Nations with the Teranga Lions earlier last year named as best men’s coach of the year by CAF.

“I this point, I will say Aliou Cisse from Senegal is doing great and I admire his courage and determination,” Kallon explained.

Aliou Cissé (born 24 March 1976) is a Senegalese football coach and former player who is the manager of the Senegal national team. Cissé is best known for being the first Senegal captain to reach the Africa Cup of Nations final in 2002 and the first Senegal manager to win the tournament in 2022 after reaching the final in 2019.

Kallon did the Uefa Pro license course alongside former team-mate and ex-Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo, who now coaches Turkish team Karagumruk – home of current Leone Stars captain Steven Caulker.

Kallon who played for 16 clubs and skippered Sierra Leone during his playing days also has experience as a football administration.

Apart from being the head coach of FC Kallon and owner, he is also the chief executive of the club, and has twice unsuccessfully made attempts to be president of his country’s FA.

He has now done what many footballers cannot claim to have achieved – both playing and coaching a club he owns.