Five Liberians Triumph In India

By Julu M. Johnson, Jr.

  Young Liberian striker Christian Taylor along with compatriots Eric Brown, Alfred Jaryn, Saylee Swen and Alvin Taylor were at the thick of things in India as the Hindustan University clinched the KCG, the Verghese Memorial inter-collegiate football trophy with a 2-0 victory over Sathyabama University.

  Christian is a grandson of the late Chief Tamba Taylor and son of Mr. Jerry Taylor of the Ministry of Finance.

  In a dispatch from India, Hindustan’s dominance over the final match was largely due to the effort of Christian as the lone striker, with support from two other Liberians Eric and Alfred.

  Eric and Alfred combined perfectly in the sixth minute to open the scoring for Hindustan.

  Alfred, taking a free kick just outside Sathyabama’s 18-yard box, floated the ball toward the left corner of the box to Eric, who took it down with a silken first touch, cut inside and lashed in sweetly.

  Alfred almost doubled his tally with a stinging free-kick but Sathyabama goalkeeper Rineesh Rahman rose to the occasion with an acrobatic save on the left side.    

  Early in the second half, Alfred missed narrowly with a drilled effort from the edge of the box after a thrilling counterattack that he had initiated with a splendidly weighted pass to left back Soman who made a lung-busting overlapping run.

  In the 67^th minute, Christian made it 2-0 for Hindustan with a rasping long-ranger, finding the top corner from about 25 yards out.

  It was gem of an effort by the young Liberian striker who left a hapless Sathyabama defender in his wake and unleashed a screamer from nearly 30 yards.

  The way he found the target from an acute angle made his goal a standout. 

  Before reaching the final, Hindustan and Sathyabama recorded 3-1 and 3-0 victories respectively against Madras Christian College and Crescent Engineering College in the semi finals.                   

  Former LPRC Oilers and Mighty Barrolle goalkeeper Saylee Swen featured in goal for Hindustan University in the grand final and went on to deny Sathyabama striker A. Sherin from scoring from the best chance of the match in the first half.

  Former Indian striker Syed Sabir Pasha was the chief guest and gave away the prizes.

 Meanwhile, the five Liberians are having good times in the Indian city of Chennai.

  They were brought by Hindustan University, where they are pursuing Information Technology and helping the university team to win football matches easily.

  They are from a country that experienced an almost 14-year war, which was estimated to have cost the lives of 250,000 people.

  “War is terrible, war always is. People kill, people die, people lose their beloved ones. I don’t want to remember it again,” says Alvin, who plays in defense.

  Christian is a fun-loving footballer, who likes to score goals.

  Before switching to India, Christian was playing in Indonesia but he was tempted to gain the opportunity of continuing his studies while playing. “It is very nice here. Guys are very friendly with us but the only problem is the heat,” he says.

  Christian played two years for Good Guys FC, a club owned by Liberian soccer legend George Weah.

  Eric, 18, is more serious about his game and life. Blessed with a wonderful left foot that will surely find him better clubs in India, Eric scored four goals while controlling the midfield.