Sheriff Awilo Suma (born 12 October 1986) is a Sierra Leonean former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a left winger. A member of Sierra Leone U17 national team at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland, he made his debut for the senior national team in 2006. Suma is one of the most popular Sierra Leonean footballers and he is known for frequently changing his unusual and colourful hairstyles.

Career

Suma was born in

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

, Sierra Leone. Like many African footballers, Suma grew up playing street football in his neighbourhood. He fled his country's

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and moved to The Gambia in 1997. Suma was widely considered the best Sierra Leonean youth footballer while in The Gambia. In 2001, the young Suma was discovered by Sierra Leonean football agent Chernor Musa Jalloh while playing in a local football league in

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

, Gambia. Jalloh introduced Suma to

Mohamed Kallon Mohamed Kallon Order of the Rokel, MOR (born 6 October 1979) is a Sierra Leonean association football, football manager and former player who is the manager of the Sierra Leone national football team. He was a striker and played for Inter Milan f ...

, Sierra Leone's most successful footballer. Kallon asked him if he would like to play for F.C. Kallon in the Sierra Leone National Premier League. Suma returned to Sierra Leone for the first time in five years in 2002 and sign for top Sierra Leone National Premier League club F.C. Kallon, which is owned by Mohamed Kallon himself. In his first season in the Sierra Leonean Premier League, Suma was the second top goal-scorer. After playing in the qualifying rounds, Suma was omitted from the final squad for the 2003 African U-17 Championship in Swaziland, something he describes as the worst moment of his life. In the championship, Sierra Leone placed second, behind Cameroon, thereby qualifying for the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland. Fortunately for Suma, he was called back to the squad for the U-17 world championship in Finland. While the team failed to advance past the group stage of the tournament, the coach commended Suma for his energy and flair with the ball. Following this event, 12 of the 23 players failed to return to Sierra Leone and some later applied for

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

. Among those who ''did'' return home was Suma. Shortly after the U-17 world championship, talent scout Chernor Musa Jalloh helped Suma move to the Swedish team Åtvidaberg on a two-year contract from F.C. Kallon. Suma made his debut for the senior national team on 3 September 2006 in a 2008 African Nations Cup qualifying match against

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. In December 2006, Suma was traded to GAIS, one of Sweden's oldest teams. Suma was loaned to FK Haugesund in the summer of 2008 for the rest of the season. In December 2012 Suma was released from his contract with Ravan Baku. In June 2014 Suma joined Syrianska Kerburan with fellow Sierra Leone International Samuel Barlay, signing a new one-year contract with Syrianska Kerburan in December 2014. In July 2015, Suma's proposed move to Kvik Halden FK fell through, before later in the same month he re-signed for

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

side Ravan Baku FK.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile at goal.com
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suma, Sheriff 1986 births Living people Susu people Sierra Leonean Muslims Sierra Leonean men's footballers Footballers from Freetown Men's association football midfielders Sierra Leone men's international footballers Allsvenskan players Superettan players Norwegian First Division players Cypriot First Division players TFF 1. Lig players Azerbaijan Premier League players National Premier Soccer League players National Independent Soccer Association players GAIS players Åtvidabergs FF players FK Haugesund players Ermis Aradippou FC players Kocaelispor footballers Jönköpings Södra IF players Syrianska IF Kerburan players Ravan Baku FK players Atlanta Silverbacks FC players Sierra Leonean people of Guinean descent Sierra Leonean expatriate men's footballers Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in the Gambia Expatriate men's footballers in the Gambia Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States