Liberia arrives in Algeria – Plays Friday,
June 6, 2008
By Bruce Wiah – Liberiansoccer Senior
Reporter –brucewiah@liberiansoccer.com
Liberia’s senior
national team, the Lone Star, shut herself
in the foot after forcing fellow underdog,
the Scorpions of Gambia to a 1-1 draw at the
SKD Sports Stadium in Monrovia on Sunday,
June 1.
The match was
marred by eight deaths in an overcrowded
stadium. Liberia’s football authority said a
thick section of the crowd had gathered at a
particular gate, which led to the
suffocation of eight fans and the injury of
dozens others. Two more fans died in the
days that followed at hospitals in Monrovia.
Several thousands
football fans crammed the SKD Sports Complex
outside Monrovia to catch a glimpse of their
national team for the first time in a highly
competitive match under newly appointed
German coach, Antoine Hey.
FA Secretary
General, George Williams, blamed the burst
on the sale of fake tickets in some quarters
around the stadium and on poor security and
admits the FA is responsible for the
incident.
"The spraying of water over the people
reduced the level of suffocation and also
helped the crowd calm down.
“Yes, we (the LFA) are responsible, but
things could have been worse. At the
moment, we know that eight people have been
killed. There are injuries as well, but
these are not that significant”, Mr.
Williams told the BBC.
FIFA and the Liberian government are also
investigating the incident, which has become
the gravest football disaster in Liberia
football history some pundits remembered
President
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has declared a
weekend of national mourning from Friday,
June 6 to Sunday, June 8, 2008 and has asked
all worship centers in the entire country to
observe the irreparable loss the nation has
sustained.
In a statement,
President Johnson-Sirleaf said:
“This is a
tragedy and a big loss for the entire
nation, putting a cloud of sadness over an
event that was to bring our youth together
to celebrate with our Gambian brothers and
sisters in the spirit of sportsmanship.”
The match was
Liberia and the Gambia’s first Group 6
encounter in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South
Africa and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers
campaign.
Senegal and
Algeria, the group other contenders,
played a day earlier with the Teranga Lions
of Senegal collecting a narrow win over
Algeria’s Desert Warriors in Dakar.
The Liberian team
had a better run of preparation as compare
to the Gambia, and the expectations were
enormous, and every requirement to win at
home was met as far as the public was
concerned and with deaths, the fans still
couldn’t have their reprieve.
The German coach,
unlike previous coaches, received a fat
three-month salary bonus, and other
remunerative support to prepare the team,
and was fortunate to play four international
friendly matches and had a brief training
camp in Casablanca, Morocco ahead of the
Gambian fixture.
Anything less than
a win for Liberia at home, on papers, puts
the Lone Star in a difficult position of
qualifying for South Africa and Angola in
2010, and sure it has. The team failed to
rise to the occasion, and each time this
happens, it’s the Liberian fans that suffer.
Liberia missed the
2002 FIFA World Cup because of
complacency at the same SKD Sports Complex,
and their performance on Sunday was without
color, steam and conviction and will at this
early stage of the competition, starts the
mathematical calibration, “the hoping
antics”.
The entire team –
technical staff and playing body flopped big
time, and some pundits asked what they were
doing on the pitch last Sunday in the first
place.
The tactics were
non-existent and not in the books, defense
in shreds, midfield perforated and attackers
ran around like strayed antelopes.
The team is under
huge pressure in the coming weeks, and
though they flew out of Monrovia a day after
the game in a real zip, three so-called key
and professional players - Dulee Johnson,
Francis Doe and Dioh Williams missed the
team flight to Morocco.
The Secretary General
of the Liberia Football Association told
Star Radio in Monrovia, the players missed
the flight for Morocco due to late arrival
at the Roberts International Airport.
The Lone
Star, however, arrived in Algers Tuesday,
June 3 after a night in
Morocco with
17 players plus 6 technical staff and is
lodging at the Mercure Alger airport hotel.
Algeria
hosts Liberia
Friday, June 6, 2008 at 7: 30 PM, in
Chaker Blida 45-kilometers away from the
capital.
Liberia
senior national football team in Algeria
1.
Adolph Laurence L.F.A -
Vice for operation (Head of Delegation)
2.
Anthony Hey Head
coach
3.
Kamal Halat Deputy
coach
4.
Kasumu Sillah
Goalkeeper
Coach
5.
Benedict Wreh Team
manager
6.
Daniel V
Medic
Players
1.
Esaiah Benson
2.
Theo Weeks
3.
James Koko Lomell
4.
Melvin King
5.
Murphy Nagbe
6.
Zah Krangar
7.
Anthony Laffor
8.
Christian Essel
9.
Stephen Mennoh
10.
George Baysah
11.
James Zotiah
12.
Kelvin Sebwe
13.
Ben Teekloh
14.
George Gebro
15.
Oliver Makor
16.
Jimmy Dixon
17.
Momo Blamo
