Jabateh to Shine Against Real.


By: Staff Reporter

With the draw of the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions league completed where the heavy weights of European football go against each other, one intriguing fixture from a Liberian perspective is that of nine times European champions Real Madrid crossing swords with Russian outfit CSKA Moscow which has in its fold Liberian import Sekou Jabateh Oliseh.

The match is the talk-of-the-town in Africa's oldest republic with connoisseurs of the country's football itching to see such epic tie between Jabateh's club CSKA and Jose Mourinho's star sprinkled squad that has former world footballer of the year Christiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro as its linchpin.

while many may be finding words to speak on the 180 minutes contest to see which of the two cruise to the quarterfinals, Liberia Football Players Association (LIFOPA) president Wleh Bedell says he backs his compatriot to shine against the Galacticos.

"The CSKA, Real pairing is no doubt a crunch one, and while the Spaniards are the favorites, Jabateh and his clubmates cannot in any way be termed as push overs as they have been tried and trusted and are certainly on the high after coming second to former European champions Internationale", Bedell indicated.

According to him, CSKA's Coach Leonid Slutskiy had to do without three key players, Keisuke Honda, Igor Akinfeev and Thomas Necid during the group stage would could be back to strengthen the squad of the Army Men.

Noted Bedell: From a Liberian perspective, i am putting my money on Sekou Jabateh Oliseh
to shine against the Meringues. Playing against the Whites is a motivation for any player for they are the phonix of clubs and Jabateh will certainly be lifted in going against them. It will be an interesting battle between him and the offense oriented Brazilian full back Marcelo Vieria Da Silva Junior, and having already shown class against the tough Romanian versatile defender Christian Chivu, he knows what to expect from the bubbling Brazilian.
The couple of matches against Real will be a true test of character for Sekou and co. and if the pacey Liberian winger must go to higher heights in the beautiful game, the Madrid test must be taken seriously as it will build him in all phases as a footballer.

Every player will relish the opportunity to feature against European club of the century, Madrid of which Oliseh is no exception. I think in all fairness he (Sekou) has been an asset to his side this season as i have been particularly impressed with his work ethic where he goes deep in midfield to complement the effort of his side middle quartet when on the back foot. His neat tackling, recovery runs, indefatigable art of dispossessing opponents are so pleasing to the eye. Also, he would make strides by making rapid runs in the final third, provide cleverly measured crosses for teammates, particularly the front two of Champions league third leading scorer Seydou Doumbia and Vagner Love of the Ivory Coast and Brazil respectively.

The test with Madrid will take Jabateh to another chapter in his career and while from an individual perspective i am backing him to shine against the Santiago Bernabeau giants, i am sanguine that he will continue to put first the TEAM as he has always been a team player. The champions league and the test with the 31 times Spanish champions could just be the platform for the September 5, 2010 international debutant to go to a bigger club and i am without any doubt that he (Jabateh) can put up a heroic show against the Whites.

One area he can gain inspiration from is the legendary George Weah who made in-raods in the same competition against the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona in the 1994/95 Champions league where his booming header in finding the leveller for his side then Paris Saint Germain (PSG) in the 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou remains something good-to- talk- about.

Finally, Jabateh is a good advertisement for Liberian football and his exploits must be seen as a motivation to the rest of the players in the country who must always be positive in saying they can make it.