By Hassan I. Conteh (Cafu)
Alusine Koroma and Alhassan Koroma are twin, born on June 9, 2000, in Sierra Leone.
They are maestro midfilders playing for the national team, Leone Stars. Both have been selected by Leone Stars’ Coach Amidu Karim to face Ethiopia and Egypt, November 15, 2023.
And they had played for the national team in several of the country’s away matches.
The same-face youth grew up largely at York Street, Guard Street, east of Freetown.
And they attended the Albert Academy senior school on Berry Street, west of Freetown, which is about 3 miles away from York Street, their original home.
Between 2005 and 2007, the twin started playing community leagues at an oval-small ground called Petrol Station, a place between Moa wharf and York Street.
They could outpace their peers around the age of six but they had a more stubborn tiny friend, 2Pac.
He was so stubborn on the ball that he appeared to “type-write” the ball on the pitch of play.
That boy then could spin-round his feet on the ball with that Christiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United amazing step-over drilling style.
These three-young coming up and promising starlets were so phenomenal at Guard Street and Moa wharf.
As children, they could be seen playing with other kids on the shores of Kent Street on the sand-wharf when the water is drifted away.
That sand wharf area was known as ‘Georgious,’a name given to fishing trawler wreckage.
Alhassan and Alusine also used to play at Bishop Johnson Memorial School (BJMS)’s compound, at Lower Savage Square by Queen Elizabeth II (Water Quay).
However, 2Pac stopped playing regular football like the twin after their brief spell at Ibrahim FC, one of Guard Street’s community teams.
Alusine had played for Marampa Stars. The two brothers had won the domestic Premier League for East End Lions football club.
They were among the squad in 2019 -2021 when the club was crowned champions of the national league.
In 2021, Alusine signed an international contract for a Spanish team called Linense.
The duo have been sighted for other Spanish clubs for new contracts and are now ticked to possibly play for any of Saudi Arabia’s top league clubs.
The writer, Cafu, had lived and played with the twin at Guard Street, Moa wharf and at BJMS’s compound back in the days.
I smiled in admiration of the twin as I recount memories of 2pac’s step-over dribble and the twin’s sure-passing through of the ball on the petrol station oval pitch at Moa wharf where people gathered in mammoth crowds, whenever, around 2006, a mini- league prized at Le 50,000 were played.