How
far for the Lone Stars?
(12- 21-03 )One
of the big surprises in the African qualifying rounds of the 2002
FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™ competition was the struggle Nigeria had
to endure before booking their ticket to Korea/Japan. And the team
giving them most of the problems was Liberia.
The fortunes of Liberia were - at that stage - closely aligned with
one man: George Weah. The former FIFA World Footballer of the Year
coached the side, played in the side and more often than not spent
his own money to bankroll the qualifying campaign.
Unfortunately for Weah, who was at that stage already in the
twilight of his career, a 2-1 defeat at home against Ghana cost
Liberia a first-ever appearance at the showpiece of international
football: The FIFA World Cup finals and Weah joined the ranks of
other football greats who never had the opportunity of playing at
the finals.
After the near-success of the last campaign, the Lone Stars are now
hoping for an even better campaign. It began against Gambia in the
African pre-preliminary qualifying round and it began with a
shocking 2-0 defeat in Bakau.
In the return leg in Monrovia, American-based Zizi Roberts opened
the scoring for the home side early in the match before Isaac Tondo
added two late goals (the match-winning one five minutes from time)
to send the home fans into jubilation mode and the Lone Stars into
the next round.
And after having come within a game of qualifying for Korea/Japan
last time around, Liberia now fear no other team – even without
George Weah.
|
|
