Lone Star
Defender In The Making
By Julu M. Johnson, Jr.
In
the not too distant future, Liberians will see a new kid on the
block, Bill Paytoe, wearing the red, white and blue colors of the
national football team, Lone Star.
Despite the scarcity of Liberian players in the leagues of Europe,
the young defender stated, "I want to see myself going to the
highest peak in football."
Paytoe said, "I mean playing professional football, because we are
just playing for the love of the game." The Karn United defender has
not hidden his dreams of playing in the English Premier League and
the Italian Serie A.
"I know that as a young and forceful player, I possess the
qualities. Those out there are not better me but it's just a matter
of time."
For those who admire this rising star in defense, the player said,
"I pray that by the middle of this year, I will leave this country."
Paytoe joined Karn United in 2000 after previously donning the
jerseys of United Soccer Ambassadors (USA) FC, Iron Side and Boys
FC, all based in the Gardnersville area.
Paytoe holds three persons in high esteem for taking him to the
level he has reached. He named the Karn United founder and patron
Samuel Karn, Millennium FC President John Rufus Ballah and the youth
soccer promoter and Haja FC coach Jean Wleh Bedell.
"Messrs. Karn and Ballah help me financially and with sporting
equipment as well as words of encouragement," pointed out Paytoe.
The defender added, "Mr. Bedell sometimes helps me financially but
mainly he gives more words of encouragement."
Meanwhile, the player's defensive prowess have over the years been
envied by the bigger clubs. He said the likes of LPRC Oilers,
Invincible Eleven and Millennium FC have expressed interest in
signing him from Karn United.
Come the 2004 National Football League, Paytoe disclosed, "I have
decided to go to Millennium FC because at this club I will achieve
my goal very soon."
Paytoe points at the LPRC Oilers and Lone Star defender Shelton
Barlee as the player he admires on the local scene, while the
Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry is his favorite player
abroad.
To his fellow players, he said, "I want my colleagues to put more
time to the game because soccer is not something to joke with."
According to him, "I want to tell them that those guys out there are
not better than us but it's only a matter of time."
Paytoe said, "we only need to pray to the Almighty God to bless us
all and make us successful in our career."
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