MONROVIA, Montserado – Just a week after the national team failed to defeat Togo at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium, Lone Star Head Coach James Salinsa Debbah announced he would be taking a break to seek medical attention.

Liberia took a 2-0 lead early in a crucial qualifying match for the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon but failed to maintain the score as Togo grabbed two goals in the final 23 minutes to share the points. A win could have seen the Lone Star qualified.

Despite pressure on the team during the match, Debbah was seated for almost the entire game, something football fans and pundits heavily criticized, but the 46-year-old said he was sick during the match and could not stand up.

“During the week of the game, I was admitted at Aspen Medical in Sinkor for two days. The doctors advised me not to even attend [the game], but I had to go. I was seriously ill, that’s why you saw me seated all along. I could not even stand on my feet,” Debbah said, over the weekend.

Debbah stated he would travel to the United States to seek medical treatment, but did not announce how long he would be gone. Liberia is expected to play a final qualifier match away at Tunisia in September.

“I am taking a break [in] the United States to seek [medical care]. I was very sick prior to the game, but nobody said anything about it, but all is criticism,” he said. “I need to concentrate a little, I need a rest and I can’t tell when I will be back. Even if I don’t return somebody can step in my place, this is a national duty; not only Debbah can do this job. There are other capable people.”

Again, Debbah expressed his disappointment over the amount of criticism he has received from the public in the draw, calling them “ungrateful.”

“I have done [better] than coaches you employed in recent times and paid them in triple digits. I am the least paid national team coach in the world and the results are evident that we can’t do better,” Debbah said.

Featured photo by T. Kla Wesley Jr.