The head coach of the South Sudan football team, Sung Jea Lee believes his side has the impetus to cause a major storm in the East and Central African region in the coming years.
Lee, a South Korean born tactician is coach for one of FIFA’s newest member nations.
He told the media about the gradual transformation of the country whose national league is barely 365 days old.
When I came to South Sudan last year, the national team looked like a mere club in Juba. There were no players, no playing facilities, no equipment of training and no sponsor. A System for national team was extinct
Lee vividly recalls the times when the team traveled to West Africa to play Mali with only 16 players.
The football association in South Sudan said there was no money to take more players. We traveled with only one goal keeper but even if we lost, it was a brave fight
The country is now ranked 198th (with 22 points) out of the 208 FIFA members nations, above Djibouti, Somalia and Eritrea.
After that 5th September 2015 memorable victory over Equatorial Guinea in the AFCON 2017 qualifiers, Lee believes the team will get better and shock many of the established CECAFA and African nations.
I am very proud of every national team players in South Sudanese team, playing in Sudan and Juba league. There is no one to play in Europe or even from Norths Africa We do not have any player whom in famous player and team of World, but we have kept improving
At the moment, the South Korean coach is in sweet talks with South Sudan Football Association to establish a sound management system with a running budget for National team
It remains to be seen whether Lee will renew his contract that expires at the end of this year.
When I finish my contract with National coach of South Sudan at the end of this year, I am yet to decide renewal but possibly I might be looking for another team for next year because I expect to have a promising team for the future
Uganda remains the highest ranked CECAFA member nation.
South Sudan is set to play in the 2015 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup.
