Are the Asian Based Players not Good Enough?

The diminutive playmaker Zah Rahan Krangar(Yellow Shirt) have been kept out of the team despite their equally prodigious talents.

By:Wleh Bedell

The Lone Star of Liberia are bracing themselves for what can be described as an epic 180 minutes as they face a daunting task away to the Warriors of Zimbabwe in September and then at home against the Eagles of Mali in October, something seen as a Herculean task for the red, white and blue outfit in their quest to qualify for their African Nations Cup final which comes on in 2012 in Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

With the Lone star at the basement of their group that is being surprisingly led by the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde, connoisseurs see the Lone Star mission to eclipse the group leaders and even triumph in the last two matches at hand as a seemingly impossible task, but, die-hards of the 1996 & 2002 Nations Cup group stage hitchers say nothing is impossible as the beauty of the game is its unpredictability as in football, anything can happen.

There are however few salient issues that continue to linger on the minds of followers of the Lone Star with the most important being the selection aspect of players for the senior national team. It has always being a major concern as to whether the current Lone Star handlers are taking into account current form or are just carried away by names or where players ply their trade irrespective of what they are doing there.

With the coming of the new Lone Star Coach Roberto Landi, it seems the merry go round of stereotype selection continues as no one really cares to know the criteria used for players’ selection.

But, while the Lone Star faithful are keen on the team performing a football miracle, one major concern is the virtual isolation of the country’s Asian based players who besides the diminutive playmaker Zah Rahan Krangar have been kept out of the team despite their equally prodigious talents.

It seems what one plays is being ignored with where one plays taking paramount in this part of the world, as the current handlers of the team insist on where one plays irrespective of their form there which is something that needs to be looked at critically. From all indication, the country’s football authorities believe that the best way to select players is to get them based on the leagues they play in order than what they play, something that is believed is one of the major reasons the Lone Star continue to struggle at the moment.

In the modern game, players’ contribution to their teams’ success irrespective of where they play must be the cardinal tool for selection. For an instance, the Palancas Negras of Angola have the 33 year old midfielder Andre Macanga of Al-Jahra in Kuwait as one of their leading players. Also, the Syli National of Guinea are relying on the effectiveness of the 26 year old forward Ishmael Bangoura from Al- Nasr in the United Arab Emirates to fire them through. Finally, the duo of 25 year old midfielder and 24 year old striker Adil Hermach and Youssef El Arabi, both of Saudi Arabian outfit Al- Hilal Ryad are two key figures for the Atlas Lions of Morocco. These three countries are better than Liberia in terms of achievement, pedigree and class, but respect football or players in Asia.

It is quite unfortunate that since the coming of the Italian Roberto Landi, the Asian based players have being downplayed to the discontentment of some. The likes of Edward Junior Wilson, alias “the Liberian Adriano” who plays for Indonesian club Seman Padang, netted 16 goals in 26 games last season. The player who was a member of the national team when playing on the local scene mainly for Mighty Barrolle where he featured against the Sparrow Hawks of Togo and Mighty Zambia has since being left out of the Lone Star, though he has left a lower Liberian national league to a higher Indonesian league. “Is it a football crime to leave Liberia to move to Asia?” one observer asked. Another player John Tarkpoh Sonkailey, “the long range specialist” who made history by leading Mighty Blue Angels to become the only Second Division side ever to win the Liberia Football Association (LFA) Knock-Out crown in 2003 has being left out of the team as well.

Also, players like the tank-man Stephen Mennoh, gritty Patrick Granue, industrious all-rounder Boikai Foday, the Vietnamese based robust defender Alex Karmo who like Mennoh were members of the Lone Star under the late Hungarian Coach Bertalan Bicskei, and the others have played for the Lone Star under various foreign and local Coaches have all being left out in this new arrangement that has one underachieving Italian Coach (as his cv indicates, no silverware) and a host of ex-internationals as his deputies.

Accusing fingers have all being pointed at former international and Liberia Football Association (LFA) Vice President for Administration Musa Shannon who masterminded the coming of his friend Roberto Landi to town as the mission started since 2008 when Shannon then not an LFA VPA had his friend Roberto Landi whom he recommended for the Lone Star job nipped by German man Antoine Hey.

Besides, Shannon indicated at the VIP stand at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS) once that he is not interested in the Asian project as he has no interest in players from Asia, but the United States and Europe. It is thus no surprise that since the arrival of his close friend Landi, players from Europe and the United States have flooded the Lone Star listing irrespective of their form.

The bizarre selection was the over weight Chris Gbandi who looked like a heavy weight wrestler for the 4-2 away loss to Cape Verde.

Gbandi who has now entered into Coaching was Shannon’s interest as he was groomed as a player in the United States. Of recent, the coming of the speedy 29 year old Ansu Toure for the friendly with Angola was through Shannon’s making and another United States players’ admirer working in the office of LFA president Musa Bility. Though Toure plies his trade with Swiss second tier side Locarno, for the fact that he started in the United States his professional career makes him one of the darlings of Shannon and friends as many players from the States are expected to flood in irrespective of their level of play there.

Thus, the problem of the Lone Star is enormous as the exclusion of Asian based players for non footballing reasons as the football authority cannot give any substantive reason is just one of the many reasons analysts believe the Lone Star is not there yet and still has a lot to do. Whether it is witch hunt or tactical reason for the Asian based being sidelined is what they remain tightlipped on as the Lone Star continue to dwindle in a paradoxical manner in the midst of gifted players who may not have the opportunity to showcase their talents in some of the world’s best leagues.