July 31, 2015 By Sahr Morris Jr.
The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has shortlisted six coaches out of a list of 63 applicants for the vacant post in the national team, Leone Stars.
The West African nation is closing in on naming their new coach after whittling down the list of candidates for the job that is left vacant since the sacking of Northern Irishman, Jonathan McKinstry.
The six shortlisted coaches include: former AFC Leopards and current JS Kairouan boss, Luc Eymael; Croatian Mamic Drago; Sierra Leone national U-23 and FC Johansen coach, John Keister; German goalkeeping coach Herzog Carsten; Tahseen Jabbary; and former Lesotho coach Zavisa Milosavljevic
The SLFA failed to reveal the full list of 63 coaches who applied for the job but according to their July 26 press release, the six shortlisted candidates are considered to be the best amongst the rest of the applicants.
“We have chosen the best amongst 63 applicants without favour and we are optimistic the successful applicant will take Sierra Leone football to another level,” the release quoted the SLFA head of technical department, Brima Mazolla Kamara, as saying.
“In selecting the six candidates, we took cognizance of their experience in African football as well as their work plan for the next two years.”
Meanwhile, FC Johansen coach John Keister is considered as favourite for the post due to his close tie with the SLFA president, Isha Johansen and the technical team, while Eymael is also seen as an ideal candidate for the job because of his vast experience in African football.
Eymael since 2010 has coached club teams in Africa with the first being AS Vita Club of Congo, then Missile FC of Gabon before joining Algerian side MC Oran in 2012. The following year he moved to AFC Leopards of Kenya.
In 2014 he joined Rwanda side Rayon Sports and he is currently the head coach of Tunisian club JS Kairouan.