Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh, striker for the Malaysian club PKNS FC, has admitted that the match against Côte d’Ivoire on Friday will be a tough one to win.
The Lone Star will host the reigning African champions at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in the second round of the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Liberia will be in search of its first-ever win over the Elephants.
“We have been playing very well in recent times,“ Wleh said. “We have had some good results. Hopefully, that will continue. Côte d’Ivoire has a good team with great players. We know it will be tough, and we will need to be at our best to win them.”
When asked if the Lonestar can prevent the Elephants from scoring, he said, “We would like to play a little bit better and not concede goals as usual. It is something we have to work on. Hopefully, it will happen for us.”
Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh will don the red, white, and blue kit for the first time since coach James Debbah took over the Liberia national team. The striker was left out of the Lone Star’s opening match in the 2017 African Nations Cup Qualifiers at Togo. He also was not called for Lone Star’s second match against Tunisia. Though he was invited for the FIFA World Cup two-leg matchup against Guinea-Bissau, he did not play due to a major knee injury.
The 6 feet 2 inch striker, who has scored four goals for the national team, is hoping that his recent success with PKNS will help him deliver for Liberia.
Featured photo courtesy of Patrick Wleh
