Sierra Leone go into their final 2021Africa Cup of Nations, Group E match against Equatorial Guinea at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium on Thursday, January 20 looking to secure top spot.
Kick-off is at 16h00 GMT.
The Leone Stars were held to a 2-2 stalemate by Ivory Coast in their second group match which was played in Yaoundé on Sunday.
Sierra Leone are placed second on the Group E standings with two points. They are a two points behind log leaders Ivory Coast
John Keister, the Sierra Leone head coach, is aware of the fact they need to beat the Central Africans in order to advance to the knockout stages of the competition.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have believed it if someone had told me that we would have two points against these great teams of Algeria and Cote d’Ivoire,” he said in the post-match interview.
“Now we have managed to do it, we must continue to work to succeed in our participation in this competition, 25 years later, it is not a question of changing our objective along the way, above all we have a great match to deliver against Equatorial Guinea.”
Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea’s ambitions of progressing to the knockout phase are still on track after a historic 1-0 win over defending champions, Algeria in their second Group E match on Sunday.
The Nzalang Nacional are placed second on the group standings with four points, and a victory or a draw against Sierra Leone will earn them a place in the Last 16.
Juan Obiang, the Equatorial Guinea head coach, was satisfied with Algeria win but he feels the battle is not yet over in their quest to make it to knockout stages.
“I am delighted with this victory against a great and beautiful team from Algeria, it was not an easy match but we managed to build our victory,” he said.
“The qualification for the next round is not yet acquired and tomorrow we will project ourselves on the match against Sierra Leone. The objective is to get a very good result.”
The last meeting between Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea was on 7 September 2013.
Sierra Leone emerged 3-2 winners in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier played at the National Stadium in Freetown.
