Mali beat Sierra Leone 1-2 in the first leg of the second round of the 2022 African Nations Champions (CHAN) qualifiers at the SKD Stadium in Liberia on Saturday afternoon.
The two West Africa nations faced off in the final phase of the qualifiers, to battle for a place in the 2022 CHAN tournament that will be hosted Algeria.
Hamidou Sinayoko slotted home the opening goal for Mali in the 23’ minutes before Ousmane Kamissoko finds the net in the 47’ minutes, putting the visitors ahead in the all West African affairs.
The Malians were the better side in the match until Sierra Leone makes a technical substitution in the midfield, bringing Saidu Fofanah who eventually helped the Leone Stars home based side to improved a bit in the game.
Fofanah’s presence in the match opens few opportunities for coach Zappa side, and they end up getting a consolation goal against the Eagles of Mali through controversial striker, Musa Noah Kamara (Tombo) in the 90+1’ munities.
“It definitely didn’t come out all well as was anticipated. We fought hard though and that sumptuous finish from Musa Noah “Tombo” Kamara was highly consolatory indeed”.
“Second leg is in a couple days and we remain determined”, stated in a post shared by the Sierra Leone Football Association media department after the match.
The CHAN tournament is organized to give chances to locally based African players who are playing top leagues in their respective countries to play continental football.
The two nations will be meeting for the return leg of the match on Saturday September, 3rd, 2022 in Mali, with the local Eagles having an edge against the local Leone Stars of Sierra Leone.
The team with the highest win on aggregate over the two legs will automatically qualify for the tournament.
