AFCON 2025: Saad Musa eyes success after return to Bright Stars

Former AFC Leopards midfielder Saad Musa is hoping to make the final cut and his first appearance in a competitive match this year when the South Sudan national team takes on Sao Tome in the preliminary round of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers.

The Bright Stars are among the eight countries that will participate in the preliminary round whose first and return leg of matches will go down between March 20-26.

Ahead of the start of the qualification campaign to the 2025 finals set to be held in Morocco, Saad hopes that the matches against Sao Tome will mark his return to competitive matches after several months out.

The creative midfielder who is currently unattached has been out nursing a shoulder injury that saw him go under the knife in October last year.

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Despite being a free agent and ‘rusty’ Saad who admitted to have recovered and resumed individual training was drafted into the 27-man provisional squad for the two crucial matches.

The midfielder who missed the opening rounds of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers played in November last year against former African champions Senegal and Mauritania as he was out injured.

“I can’t wait to be at the camp and train with the boys. I am yearning for competitive football after recovering and I can't ask for a better platform than the one offered by the national team,” said the midfielder who left the den in January.

With the winners of the preliminary round set to join the 44 other countries in the draw for group stages, the former Thika United man tipped the Bright Stars who have called two other players from the Kenyan league will beat Sao Tome and advance to the next level.

“We did it before the qualifiers for the concluded edition started. I was part of the squad that eliminated Djibouti and went on to play in the qualifiers’ group stage action,” he added.

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