MONROVIA, Montserrado – As countries were busy in action during the just ended FIFA international friendly break, Liberians were left surprised by not seeing their national team in action despite two scheduled games.
Liberia failed to use the FIFA international break to test the strength of their team ahead of the crucial 2019 Nation’s Cup qualifiers that is set to kick off in June, despite previously announcing two matches against Egypt and Mauritania.
The last time Lone Star was in action was on November 15, 2016, against the Kenyan national team in a friendly encounter. Former AmaZulu Football Club speedy winger Paul Were scored the only goal to condemn Liberia to a narrow 1-0 defeat.
Since the defeat to Kenya, Liberia has not engaged in a friendly encounter despite having the 2019 Nations Cup qualifiers ahead of them.
According to a release from the Liberia Football Association, it was Mauritania that had requested for the international friendly scheduled for March 28 in Nouakchott. The release said the Mauritanians had agreed to provide accommodation for three nights for a 30-man delegation and the LFA would handle its own air travel.
The match with Egypt was intended for the Egyptians to prepare their players as they gear up for the African Cup of Nations Championship. According to the LFA, the match against the Pharaohs of Egypt was organized by McSports.
The LFA has not given an official reason as to why the two games were not played despite numerous efforts to reach them for comments.
The conspicuous lack of international matches for Lone Star players coincided with Fifa announcing its ranking of teams in the world. Liberia fell from being ranked 101st to now 141st. This ranking is the lowest for Liberia since 2010 when Lone Star was ranked 160th in the world.
Featured photo courtesy of Kla Wesley
