BRITISH soldiers are due for a beating in Sierra Leone … on the football pitch at least, army officials admitted on Saturday. A scratch side from 42nd Marine Commando, the unit which has been patrolling Freetown and manning checkpoints for the past few weeks, are to take on the Sierra Leonean national team in a much-awaited match, army spokesman Captain Fergus Smith said. “If any of you know how to play football, let us know,” Smith told a briefing of foreign journalists. The Sierra Leonean cricket team, who are west African champions, earlier pulled out of a planned match with a team from HMS Ocean, one of the Royal Navy ships off shore.