A new player will wear the black and yellow stripes when the Charleston Battery take to the field in April: 28-year-old Sallieu Bundu, a forward from Sierra Leone who spent his last season playing for the Charlotte Eagles. Bundu netted seven goals and made one assist last season.
According to a press release from the Battery, Bundu is a native of Bo, Sierra Leone. He fled the country on foot with his mother and siblings after his father was murdered by rebels during the brutal civil war that broke out in the ’90s. The family lived for five years in Guinea before Bundu’s brother won a U.S. immigrant visa through the Guinea’s Green Card Lottery.
Bundu started his professional soccer career in 2008 in Cleveland, where he scored the team’s winning goal in the USL2 championship game before moving up to the USL1 and playing for the Carolina RailHawks in Cary, N.C., in 2009. He spent three years with the RailHawks but was loaned out to the Charlotte Eagles during the 2011 season.
“Adding Sallieu was an important signing as we wanted to get a target striker who brings a wealth of experience to the position and our league” said Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser.
The Battery will play their home opener on April 14 against the Richmond Kickers. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. at Blackbaud Stadium, and fireworks will follow the match.
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