Liberia Draws Blank With Namibia, Qualifies for Group Stage of Africa Cup



Written by Rodney D. Sieh
Rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com



Windhoek, Namibia - It wasn’t pretty but Liberia’s Lone Star defended their 1-0 first leg win in Monrovia with a lucky 0-0 draw against the Warriors of Namibia. Heading into the match, Liberia held a 1-0 aggregate lead.

Namibia needed to win by two clear goals if they had any chance of moving to the next stage of the qualifiers for the bi-annual continental championships taking place in South Africa in 2013.

Hopes were high for the Warriors heading into the match, the team was on a high following their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier 1-0 victory over Kenya last weekend. Liberia was coming off a 3-1 loss to the Lions of Senegal.

Coach Kaetu Smith who had endured a turbulent few days leading to the match after expelling three of his key players, former Captain Anthony Laffour, Francis Grandpa Doe and Dioh Williams gave a full start to CSKA Moscow striker Sekou Jabateh Oliseh, coming off an shin injury, who was left up front along with Patrick Wleh in his planned 4-4-2 formation against Namibia.

The combination proved to be a handful for the Warriors early on as Jabateh solo run on the right flank in the 2nd minute was headed over the crossbar by Wleh.

Despite a glimmer of occasional brilliant footwork by Oliseh, Liberia found trouble holding the ball for most of the match, allowing the Warriors to take advantage of sloppy passes and sometimes incoherent coordination in the midfield. Had it not been for the brilliant Nathaniel Sherman between the Lone Star’s post, the Warriors could have made thing sour for their visitors.

The Lone Star’s defense was in fine form for most of the match with Solomon Grimes at right, Teah Dennis and Omega Roberts in the central defense and the veteran George Gebro who was given the captain’s armband after Laffour’s suspension playing at left back.

But it was the lack of a coordinated midfield which proved to be detrimental for Liberia for most of the match forcing Eslin Kamuhanga and Warriors’ captain Ronald Ketjijere to break down the Liberian defense for most of the match. The pairing cause a lot of tension of Liberia with some nice solo runs and aptly-timed combination which caught the Liberian defense off guard.

An in-swinger from the right flank in the 30th minute by Kamuhanga was smartly saved by Sherman. The Namibians fielding a fairly young team dominated most of the second half but just could not finish the visitors off.

The Warriors’ Heinrich Isaacks cost Liberia numerous headaches but had two rocket shots missed the cross bar by inches early in the second half and in the dying minutes of the match. But it was his cancelled out goal in the 58th minute that brought the stadium to its feet briefly only for the goal to be disallowed and spare Liberia the heartache.

Namibia blames poor refereeing

Warrior’s coach Bernard Kaanjuka pointed the bulk of his team’s defeat to missed chances and luck for Lone Star but took jibes at the refereeing.

Lonestar Captain George Grebo fight for the ball with Hendrik Somaeb of the Brave Warriors

“It’s because of the referee that we lost the game,” Kaanjuka said after the match.

The referee’s performance was poor. Liberia were wasting time but he didn’t take any action against their delaying tactics,” he said. “It looks like the referee came from Senegal or something but he is from Zambia,” Kaanjuka lamented.

Liberia’s coach Kaetu Smith dismissed the charge as absurd. “We came with a game plan to defend our 1-0 aggregate score and we did so to perfection. It wasn’t pretty, but we got the results we needed. Now we’re headed to the group stage with a chance to play for spot in the Cup of Nations in South Africa,” Smith said.

Simply unlucky, coach says

But Kaanjuka said the result was simply because his side was unlucky. “The only problem today was that luck was not on our side. If you look at the game in the second half we had a lot of chances and the boys did not put them through so that is the only problem. And as you can see they were too much in a hurry, they did not look up and everybody wanted to score. So the problem I would say was the experience. They did not have the experience and it cost us problems.”

Continued Kaanjuka: “Our dream was to score one goal but it did not come our way. So this is just the beginning and we have still a long way to go. The team is pretty young and they have a bright future. They should have won today but luck was not just on our side.”

While Kaanjuka can take some solace in his young side’s missed chances, a bright spot for the Namibian side was the play of Henrico Botes, the lanky center forward had the Lone Star’s defence on edge. He had a powerful header missed the crossbar early in the second half.

Liberia’s coach Smith brought on Perry Kollie for Wleh, who missed some glorious scoring chances, including a tap on a loose ball from a corner which went inches over the crossbar shortly before taking his exit.

In the match’s closing moments, including injury time, the Namibians fought desperately to dampen the Lone Star’s day to no avail Both Larry Horaeb and Hendrik Somaeb brought Lone Star defenders to their knees into the box but poor finishing and brilliant saves from Sherman shattered their hopes.

Alamadine injured in dying minutes

Just seconds before the final whistle, Lone Star’s defender Omega Alamadine was taken off on a stretcher and is listed day-to-day. He suffered a collision with Warriors Somaeb after clearing a dangerous kick.

As Lone Star players celebrated, questions will no doubt be lingering over the team’s readiness for the next phase of the qualification round after they struggled to get by a young Namibian team, albeit a rugged draw away from home. The winners from Round One face the 16 finalists from the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations over two legs on 7-9 September and 12-14 October to decide the 15 finalists joining hosts South Africa in the 2013 finals.


                 Theo Weeks tracks down Eslin Kamuhanga of Namibia

Lack of coordination and some defensive lapses against a young Namibian team Sunday, coupled with the recent expulsion of some of the team’s core players has raised the stakes for Liberia in both the Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers. Coach Smith and company have their work cut out for a team lacking cohesion and in the words of Namibian coach Kaanjuka, riding on “luck”.

Liberia: 1-Sherman Nathaniel; 17 George Gebro; 15 Solomon Grimes; 6. Omega Alamadine; 3 Teah Dennis; 5 Jimmy Dixon; 8. Alseny Keita; 4 Theo Weeks; 11 Zah Rahan Krangar; 13. Patrick Wleh(Kollie-82); 10. Sekou Jabateh Oliseh; Subs: 18. Mulbah Urey; 9. Solomon Wesseh; 12. Martin Karndu; 16. Abraham Barshall; 7. Kollie Perry; 2. Marcus Macauley; 14. Herron Berrian; Coach: Joseph Kaetu Smith

Namibia: 16. Virgill Vries; 5. Dacosta Angula; 4. Willem Mwedihanga; 6. Larry Horaeb; 2. Denzil Haoseb; 12. Ronald Ketjijere; 7. Heinrich Isaacks; 11 Petrus Shitembi(Somaeb-70); 8. Willy Stephanus; 13. Eslin Kamuhanga; 9. Henrico Botes; Subs: 1-Efraim Tjihonge; 3. Steven Sabatha; 10. Tangeni Shipahu; 14. Neville Tjiueza; 17. Sadney Urikhob; 15, Benson Shilongo; 18. Hendrik Somaeb; Head Coach: Bernard Kaanjuka