South Sudan national football team

South Sudan
Nickname(s) Bright Star[1]
Association South Sudan Football Association
Sub-confederation CECAFA (East & Central Africa)
Confederation CAF (Africa)
Head coach Elya Wako
Asst coach Felix Bilal Komoyangi
Captain Richard Justin Lado
Top scorer Richard Justin Lado (2)
Home stadium Juba National Stadium
FIFA code SSD
FIFA ranking 188 Increase 1 (12 March 2015)
Highest FIFA ranking 185 (June 2014-August 2014)
Lowest FIFA ranking 205 (September 2013)
Elo ranking 162
Highest Elo ranking 132 (July 2012)
Lowest Elo ranking 162 (2015)
First colours
Second colours
First international
South Sudan South Sudan 2–2 Uganda 
(Juba, South Sudan; 10 July 2012)
Biggest defeat
 Mozambique 5–0 South Sudan South Sudan
(Maputo, Mozambique; 18 May 2014)

The South Sudan national football team represents South Sudan in international association football and is controlled by the South Sudan Football Association, the governing body for football in South Sudan.

History

Dr. Sally Samuel Lolako was appointed on May 25, 2011 to oversee the national team.[2] The national team's first international fixture was due to be against the Kenyan national team on 10 July 2011 as part of the country's independence celebrations.[3][4] However, in the event the opposition was provided by Tusker FC of the Kenyan Premier League,[5] alongside the first international fixture of the national basketball team. The match was played at Juba Stadium. South Sudan scored within ten minutes, but they later conceded three goals in a 3–1 defeat.[6] South Sudan was officially admitted as a CAF member on 10 February 2012, at the 34th CAF Ordinary General Assembly hosted in Libreville, Gabon.[7] South Sudan was admitted as a FIFA member on 25 May 2012 at the second session of the 62nd FIFA Congress hosted in Budapest, Hungary.[8][9]

On 10 July 2012, South Sudan competed in its first full international match, a friendly against Uganda in Juba.[10] The match ended in a 2-2 draw, with James Moga and Richard Justin Lado scoring for South Sudan. This match resulted in South Sudan entering the FIFA rankings at the start of August in 199th place.[10]

The South Sudanese took part in their first ever international football tournament when they took part in the 2012 CECAFA Cup in Uganda.[11][12] They were drawn in Group A alongside Ethiopia, Kenya, and hosts Uganda.[13] The national team played their first match against Ethiopia, losing 1-0 through a Yonathan Kebede goal. In their next match, they lost 2-0 against Kenya. Their final match saw them suffer a 4-0 loss to Uganda.

South Sudan entered its first major international tournament in 2014, taking part in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification. As one of the four lowest ranked national teams in Africa, it entered in the preliminary stage and was scheduled to play against Eritrea, who withdrew, thus qualifying South Sudan for the first qualifying round.[14][15] There, the played Mozambique over two legs, losing a national record 5–0 at the Estádio do Zimpeto in Maputo, but hosting a goalless draw in the second leg despite being eliminated on aggregate. South Sudan's home leg was held at the Khartoum Stadium in Sudan due to the South Sudanese Civil War.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Host nation(s) / Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Uruguay 1930 to South Africa 2010Did not enter, was part of Sudan
Brazil 2014Did not enter, not part of FIFA
Russia 2018TBD
Qatar 2022TBD

Africa Cup of Nations

Host nation(s) / Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Sudan 1957 to Angola 2010Did not enter, was part of Sudan
GabonEquatorial Guinea 2012Did not enter, non CAF member
South Africa 2013Did not enter, non CAF member
Equatorial Guinea 2015Did not qualify
  2017TBD

Recent results

Current squad

In international football, players can normally only play for one national team once they play in all or part of any match recognised as a full international by FIFA. However, an exception is made in cases where one or more newly independent states are created out of a former state. Based on current FIFA rules, a player will be eligible to play for South Sudan, even if he had previously represented Sudan or any other country, if at least one of the following statements applies:

However, when South Sudan gained independence, a majority of the talented South Sudanese players were playing in the North Sudanese league, most notably captain Richard Justin Lado, Roy Gulwak and Athir Thomas. Nevertheless, they became eligible to play for South Sudan as soon as most of them moved to the South, while James Moga moved to Pune F.C. in India. The following players have been called up for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification. Caps and goals as of May 30, 2014.

# Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
GK Kennedy Saturlino 1 0 South Sudan Al-Malakia
GK David Alfred 1 0 Unknown
DF Maker Albino 16 March 1987 1 0 South Sudan Atlabara
DF David Jada 1 0 South Sudan Al-Malakia
DF Abdelkarim Mutwakil 1 0 Unknown
DF Zachariah Atinasio 3 0 Unknown
MF Thomas Jacob 5 0 South Sudan Al-Malakia
MF Fabiano Lako 3 1 South Sudan El Nasir
MF A. Akure 1 0 Unknown
MF J. Rostu 1 0 Unknown
MF Akech Aluck 2 0 Unknown
FW David Atak 11 September 1983 1 0 Sudan Al-Nsoor
FW James Moga 14 June 1983 8 1 India East Bengal
FW Dominic Aboi 3 0 Unknown

Recent call-ups

# Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
GK Jumma Ginaro 28 February 1982 7 0 Sudan Al-Hilal Omdurman
GK Hassan Rafail 0 0 Unknown
GK Roy Gulwak 5 July 1985 0 0 Ethiopia Dedebit
GK Yahiya Abassi 10 July 1987 ? 0 South Sudan Al Hilal Juba
GK Elias James Makoleka 19 January 1978 ? 0 South Sudan Aweil Meriekh
DF Jimmy Eresto 25 January 1989 2 0 South Sudan Al-Malakia
DF Athir Thomas 7 February 1987 4 0 Sudan Al-Hilal Omdurman
DF Jimmy Abdella 0 0 Unknown
DF Edomon Amadeo 3 0 Unknown
DF Philip Delfino 3 0 Unknown
DF Lubari Zariba 1 0 Unknown
DF Martin Suleiman 2 0 Unknown
DF Miskeen Emmanuel 3 0 Unknown
DF Hassein Ismail 1 0 Unknown
DF Duach Jock 20 December 1986 1 0 United States Orange County Blues
DF Villion Silvestre 2 0 Unknown
DF Jackson Mubaraka 0 0 Unknown
DF Richard Zuberi 22 April 1984 ? 0 South Sudan Atlabara
DF Mohamed Zachariah 22 October 1989 ? 0 South Sudan Atlabara
MF Achuil Akwayi 11 April 1984 1 0 Sudan Al-Nsoor
MF Godfrey Peter 1 0 Unknown
MF Wol Bol Yor 1 0 Unknown
MF Richard Justin Lado (captain) 5 October 1979 7 2 South Sudan Al-Malakia
MF William Offiri 3 0 South Sudan Rainbow
MF Mong Deng Atit 2 0 Unknown
MF Emmanuel Manase 2 0 Unknown
MF Kuzgbour Dak 2 0 Unknown
MF Adnan Nan 20 November 1979 2 0 South Sudan El Nasir
MF Simon Amana 0 0 Unknown
MF Khamis Martin 5 October 1986 1 0 Sudan Al-Mourada
MF Malek Angeth Atak 1 May 1994 0 0 Sudan Al-Nsoor
MF Johnson Deng 2 0 Unknown
MF Francis Lado John 25 September 1990 ? 0 South Sudan Atlabara
MF Emmannuel Bibo 25 January 1992 ? 0 South Sudan Atlabara
FW Khamis Leyano 1 January 1987 4 0 South Sudan Atlabara
FW Clement Badru 1 0 Unknown
FW Ladule Lako LoSarah 26 March 1987 1 0 Germany FC International Leipzig
FW Pascal Samuel Baraka 11 November 1987 ? 0 South Sudan El Nasir
FW Andrian Malyang Unknown 1 1 South Sudan Al Hilal Juba
FW Jacob Osulu Unknown 0 0 South Sudan El Nasir
FW Abumalik Taban Unknown 0 0 South Sudan El Nasir

Coaches

Notes
  1. ↑ Malesh Soro was named as South Sudan's first national team manager, however he never took control of the national team for a game.
  2. ↑ Đorđević was coach of the South Sudan team during the inaugural match versus Uganda and the 2012 CECAFA Cup campaign.
  3. ↑ Balanga was coach of the South Sudan team during the 2013 CECAFA Cup campaign.
  4. ↑ Lolaku Samuel was named as caretaker manager for the friendly game versus Botswana in March 2014.
  5. ↑ Elya Wako was named as the new manager for South Sudan 2014.

Dual-Internationals

The following South Sudanese international footballers have also played for Sudan before the country's independence:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Al-Smith, Gary (3 August 2011). "Fierce rivalry and the bulky Pirate". ESPN. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  2. ↑ Kayanga, John (25 May 2011). "Constitution, Budget for National soccer team remains unfinished". Juba Post. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Martell, Peter (6 July 2011). "World’s Newest Nation Set to Step Into Sporting Arena". Jakarta Globe. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  5. ↑ Rice, Xan (10 July 2011). "South Sudan marks statehood with football match". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  6. ↑ "Independent South Sudan play first football match". Kickoff.com. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  7. ↑ South Sudan admitted as a member of CAF, SuperSport.com, Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  8. ↑ "FIFA Congress fully backs reform process, appoints first woman to Executive; welcomes South Sudan as 209th FIFA member". FIFA Congress. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  9. ↑ Mensah, Kent (27 May 2012). "South Sudan become Fifa’s 209th member". Goal.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "South Sudan enter FIFA rankings". Reuters. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  11. ↑ South Sudan set for international debuts at Cecafa cups BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2012
  12. ↑ World newest state set for CECAFA début Futaa.com. Retrieved 12 November 2012
  13. ↑ Ethiopia get tough draw for 2012 Cecafa Challenge Cup BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2012
  14. ↑ "Eritrea withdraws from Nations Cup Qualification". Reuters.com. 30 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "Eritrea withdraws from Can 2015". Cafonline.com. 30 March 2014.
  16. ↑ Kayanga, John (26 May 2011). "Malesh to take charge of National team". Juba Post. Archived from the original on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.

External links