Liberia ended the 2018 Sheikha Al Thani for Underprivileged Children World Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria on a disappointing note after falling to Nigeria in the final. Nigeria showed supremacy with a 4-0 win to finish as champions.

After a 2-0 defeat to the host, Bulgaria, on the opening day of the tournament, Liberia, under the guidance of senior national team head coach, Thomas Kojo, regrouped and started to pull out the needed results. They delivered a 5-1 win against Iraq in their second group game to finish as runner-up in Group A. Team Liberia finished second behind Bulgaria that grabbed victories in all their group games.

From the group matches, they were faced with an uphill task against Cambodia in the quarterfinals. Cambodia was yet to taste a defeat having won one and drawn one of their group games. However, Liberia went against all the odds to grab a narrow 3-2 win to advance to the semifinals, where they were paired against Morocco.

With Morocco reaching the semifinals with almost the same results as Liberia, the match was expected to be a competitive one as the two sides battled for a place in the final. The result, in the end, showed that Liberia was the better side after an easy 5-1 win took them to the final against Nigeria.

Sadly, Liberia ended the tournament disappointingly with a defeat from Nigeria just as they began with a defeat to Bulgaria. However, their efforts in the tournament cannot go unnoticed, as they reached further in the tournament ahead of some top footballing countries like Peru, Cameroon, and Mexico.

Despite the defeat in the final, Coach Thomas Kojo said he was proud of the team and said he sees them as champions. He told The Bush Chicken that they played with their hearts on the pitch to win the championship but the result didn’t go their way in the end.

“Less preparation [led to] defeat in the first game, which might have killed many teams but [we] came back stronger with a huge win,” he said. “The boys gave their best on the pitch, but it wasn’t their day. I can’t be prouder of their performances. They are heroes.”

Featured photo courtesy of Pawala Janyan