Sierra Leone U-20 to arrive in Banjul today

A 26-man delegation, including 18 players from the Sierra Leone U-20 team will jet in to Banjul today ahead of the weekend clash of the first round of the African U-20 qualifiers, according sources close to the Sierra Leone Football Association.

The Sierra Leone U-20 side, Shooting Stars, will take on The Gambia U-20 on Saturday following the elimination of their Algerian opponents with a 2-1 aggregate win in the preliminaries last May.

The team under Head Coach Alimamy K-foot Turay, is expected to arrive on board Arik.

The return leg will be played two weeks later, and in the first week of August.

The Gambia  with fifteen other countries such as Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Nigeria, among others, were exempted from playing in the preliminaries and are expected to play and win two matches before booking a place in 17th African U-20 Championship, billed for Libya 2011.

The final round of the qualifiers will be played between 24, 25, 26, September 2010.

Despite losing the second leg 1-0 in Algiers, the Shooting Stars advanced to the next round after winning the first leg 2-0 at home in Freetown.

Following their qualification to the first round, the President of the Sierra Leone Football Association, Nahim Khadi said the Shooting Stars have made Sierra Leone proud, as they had done what others have failed to do.

"They have made football rise again in the country, after the female team and the home base side have failed to qualify in their respective competitions, they have made it," Khadi told Goal.com.