Sierra Leone came back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 in 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying against Guinea-Bissau in Conakry, Guinea on Monday. Augustus Kargbo and Musa Noah Kamara scored in the final fifteen minutes to save a point for the Leone Stars after two goals in the span of five minutes from Jorginho put the Djurtus up early in the second half. Sierra Leone earn their first point in Group A, leaving them three points behind Guinea-Bissau in third place while Nigeria currently top the group.
The pitch at the Stade General Lansana Conté in Conakry was far from ideal with a soaked pitch preventing fluid football on the day. Both teams struggled to find opportunities due to the state of the pitch in the first half with Sierra Leone coming closest. At the halfway mark of the first half Amadou Bagayoko came close to opening the scoring for the Leone Stars but after receiving a pass from Mohamed Buya Turay the Bolton Wanderers forward mishit his shot wide from eight yards out.
Guinea-Bissau got off to an electric start in the second half. The speedy Jorginho got behind the Sierra Leone defense and sent his finish past an onrushing Mohamed Kamara in goal to open the scoring only three minutes into the second half. Five minutes later the Djurtus once again broke out behind the defense and Jorginho struggled to get his feet right after receiving a low cross but had plenty of time to compose himself and fire in from six yards out to double the lead.
However, Guinea-Bissau defender Sana Gomes was the last defender when his desperate challenge took down a Sierra Leone attacker outside the penalty area and he was sent off with a straight red card. While Musa Kamara sent a penalty kick wide as Sierra Leone attempted to come back, Kargbo cut the deficit to within one goal in the 77th minute when he collected the ball on the left wing and cut inside to fire past Gomis. In the 88th minute the comeback was complete when Kamara capitalized on an error from Gomis to level the match and give Sierra Leone what could be a crucial point.
Highlights from the match which was not televised are below.
