"It's rare for a whole team of Sierra Leoneans to go abroad and come back. It goes to show what Sierra Leone can do when it puts its mind to it. We have managed to stick a feather in the cap for the country."

-- Kweku Lisk, legal adviser to Sierra Leone youth club, FC Johansen, the first African team to compete in the 27-year history of the Mittnorden Cup. Swedish Honorary Consul Arne Johansen vouched for the club, made up of underprivileged children, many of them orphaned during the country's savage 1991-2002 civil war. His support prompted Sweden to lift its ban on on issuing visas to Sierra Leonean athletes. FC Johansen finished second in its age group. (Reuters)