MONROVIA, Montserrado – Once known as the golden club in Liberian football, the Invincible Eleven, the nation’s oldest club, has become a point donor in the ongoing 2016-17 Liberia Football Association first division league.
The 13-time Liberia Premier League winner has failed to live up to expectations since its return to the LFA National League. After failing to meet the requirements to play in the 2015-16 LFA First Division League, IE, along with six other clubs, were denied the right to participate.
IE sent several appeals that were later accepted by LFA’s Appeal Committee and the club was reinstated. However, IE failed to make a full comeback they had already loaned out their players and dealt with some financial difficulties.
After a season without league football, they returned not as the Invisible Eleven of the old days, but as the worst team in the club’s history. They have failed to obtain a single point in their opening six games and are currently considered a team destined for relegation.
IE has now suffered its sixth consecutive defeat after falling to Liberia’s CAF Confederation Cup representative, Monrovia Club Breweries on Jan. 26 at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium.
From the start of the match, it looked as though IE would have had their first point of the season after taking the lead just two minutes in the match. The Yellow Boys took the lead through Morris Janteh, but eventually lost 4-2. The Beer Boys scored two goals from spot-kick before the halftime whistle.
However, IE returned and leveled the score with a free kick from Oliver Seekey just two minutes into the second half. With the score at 2-2, there were some hopes of IE getting a share of the points until Charles Burma scored the fifth goal of the match in the 79th minute to give Club Breweries a 3-2 lead.
The victory was sealed in stoppage time of the match after Breweries got their fourth goal from Benjamin Sackor, who made a brilliant run through the IE defense to beat goalkeeper James Kolubah.
Winless, IE sits at the bottom of the table with zero points, while Club Breweries ascended to third place with 11 points.
Photo courtesy of Peterking Quaye
