One of Sierra Leone’s most popular and most talented footballers Lamin Junior Tumbu Conteh known by his middle name ‘Junior Tumbu’ has died after a short illness. The news is reported by Football Sierra Leone. According to Football Sierra Leone, Junior Tumbu died at the Kenema Government Hospital where he was reportedly admitted following a short illness.

Born 20 June 1976, the 46 years old played as an attacking midfielder and represented the Sierra Leone national team between 1994 and 2002. He was born and raised in Freetown, Sierra Leone to Muslim parents from the Limba ethnic group. A Muslim himself, Conteh grew up in poverty. As a teenager, he was frequently seen playing street football across Freetown with boys much older than he was. As a teenager, he was considered the best secondary school footballer in Sierra Leone. He dropped out of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School in Freetown in 1992 to become a professional footballer. Junior Tumbu made his international debut for Sierra Leone in 1994, at the age of seventeen becoming one of the youngest players to ever represent Sierra Leone at the national level.

The creative and skillfully talented player was widely considered by many Sierra Leoneans as the most talented and most popular footballer from Sierra Leone during his playing days. Tumbu was regarded as by far the most famous and one of the most loved Sierra Leonean footballers in the 1990s. At the age of 18, the talented player was selected to play for Sierra Leone in the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations held in Tunisia. He was also picked in the squad for the following tournament in South Africa two years later.

Junior Tumbu played in Europe for clubs like Beerschot VAC, SV Meppen Boavista, Varzim and many more.