Leone Stars goalie Christian Caulker out of Tunisia game By Mohamed Fajah Barrie in Freetown Caulker was not part of Leone Stars players in training at the National Stadium in Freetown on Wednesday (Photo credit: Mohamed Fajah Barrie) Leone Stars coach Jonathan McKinstry has confirmed that USA based Goal Keeper Christian Caulker will miss his side’s crucial 2014 World Cup qualifier against Tunisia at the National Stadium in Freetown on Saturday. The Irish coach told sierraleonefootball that Caulker has decided not to travel to Freetown for the group B match despite receiving assurances from him that his damaged United States visa will be replaced. Caulker’s passport that has a three-year United States visa in it got damaged last week after it got soaked and pages scattered into pieces. According to Caulker the passport was inside the pocket of one of his trousers and he forgot to remove it after using it to transfer money to Freetown from Western Union. The trouser was put into a laundry machine and by the time he realised that the passport was in the pocket it was too late for him. The former Kallon FC player is the Leone Stars first choice goalie but his absence doesn’t seem to worry the Coach McKinstry who said: “There has always been plan B if Caulker fails to come. I’m not worry at all about his absence because our system will not allow the Tunisians to create many chances.” He added: “Plan B is Ibrahim Tarawallie known as Banjul who will be given the chance to prove himself. “He has chosen not to travel to Freetown despite we’ve given him assurances that his visa problem will be solved. We have even contacted the US embassy in Freetown regarding his visa and they’ve told us what to do.” The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) had earlier ruled Caulker out when he reported about his passport situation but later made a u-turn after Coach McKinstry insisted that he needed him in his squad and gave assurance that the problems would be fixed. This is the second game Caulker is missing since he made his Leone Stars debut against Guinea Bissau in 2007. Meanwhile Cyprus based striker Mustapha ‘Hadji’ Bangura has joined the rest of the Leone Stars team in camp in Freetown and he was part of the team’s morning and afternoon training sessions on Wednesday. It remains three more foreign-based players Sweden based strikers of Mohamed ‘Poborsky’ Bangura, Alhassan ‘Crespo’ Kamara and defender Gibril ‘Barel’ Sankoh who is suspended for Saturday’s match but is eligible for next weekend’s encounter against Cape Verde in Praia.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:02:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015