By Danesius Marteh, archie2024@gmail.com
Liberia will take on Malawi in a 2026 World Cup qualifier at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe at 16:00GMT on 8 September.
Fans shouldn’t expect much with Liberia being poor travelers, having lost 1-0 to Malawi on 17 November 2023 in the first leg at the Samuel Kanyon Doe sports complex in Paynesville.
On our last visit to Malawi, Liberia drew goalless at the Silver Stadium in Lilongwe on 26 August 1989 in a 1990 World Cup qualifier.
Liberia were soundly beaten 3-0 by Tunisia at the Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi in Rades on 4 September.
Tunisia took the lead after five minutes when Russia-based Hazem Mastouri intercepted a sloppy back pass from defender Mark Pabai and baptized the onrushing Tommy Songo in goal.
Qatar-based Ferjani Sassi made it 2-0 in the 66th minute against the run of play after a spell of dominance by the Tunisians.
And Germany-based Elias Saad, who plays for Augsburg, brought his Bundesliga experience to bed when he curled home a delightful free kick that caught Songo unaware in the 94th minute.
The result not only reflect the technical gap but also an administrative deficiency at the Liberia Football Association (LFA).
And interim head coach Thomas Kojo admitted that his team deserved to lose.
“We made lot of mistakes technically that led to our defeat. In our fairness, the Tunisians showed more that they wanted to win. They fought and the best side won, which is Tunisia,” said Kojo at a news conference in Tunis.
Kojo, who was an integral part of the George Weah XI that put smiles on the faces of Liberians, hopes Liberian football will one day improve.
“There is a lot of work that we are starting now to put in place in Liberia to make sure that we can have a new national team. Few years back, we had a strong national team with a lot of quality players.
“We have a lot of young players that are developing now. So, in few years with what the Football Association is putting in place with lots of development programs, our football will get better,” said Thomas.
So Liberians can be assured of what lies ahead with faith being the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction (evidence) of things not seen.
They should expect nothing from their national football teams as evidenced by the defeat to Tunisia.
On our last visit, Liberia lost 4-1 to Tunisia in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet in Monastir on 4 September 2016 in Tunis.
Nothing has changed nine years later with the 3-0 defeat evidence of our football program sinking deep in the septic tank.
And LFA President Mustapha Raji seems not to be embarrassed by Liberia’s inability to qualify for any major competition since his ascendency in September 2018.
At least, he can smilingly run to the bank to collect US$130,000 per annum as an LFA President and executive committee member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
