Lone
Star Coach Gets US$30,000
By Julu M. Johnson, Jr.
The German coach of the Liberia national football team has received an
initial payment of US$30,000.00 to handle the Lone Star.
The amount represents three months of salary advance to the man that
is expected to guide the Lone Star to both the 2010 African Nations
and World Cup finals in Angola and South Africa respectively.
Mr. Antoine Tony Hey was settled the amount when he formally signed to
coach the Lone Star for one year, worth US$10,000 per month.
The signing ceremony took place on the night of Saturday, March 15,
2008 at the Royal Hotel in Sinkor, where Hey is residing, and the
occasion was attended by officials of the Ministry of Youth and Sports
and the Liberia Football Association (LFA).
Officials of both the Sports Ministry and LFA said Mr. Hey's first
task would be to lead the Lone Star to a mini-tournament in Sudan this
week for a friendly international on March 26, 2008.
Thereafter, the Lone Star coach would take the team for a training
camp in his native Germany.
For the pending trip, reports have it that only two players, including
the Invincible Eleven (IE) goalkeeper Melvin King, have impressed Mr.
Hey, so the duo would be the only locals making the trip.
The rest of players are expected to be recruited from Europe. The
likely recruits are Oliver Makor, Dulee Johnson, Dioh Williams, Louis
Crayton, Ben Teekloh, Alex Nimely, George Gebro, Solomon Grimes, Chris
Gbandi, Jimmy Dixon and Lamine Ousman.
Hey is a former player of the German Bundesliga side Schalke 04. He
who also played professional football in Switzerland and England for
14 years before retiring from active football at the age of 31 to
pursue a coaching career.
Hey became head coach of the national team of The Gambia on September
26, 2006, replacing Sang Ndong, who was sacked in 2003.
Born in 1970, Hey’s previous coaching experience has been with Lesotho
for 13 months as well as a German lower division side Neumunster for
nine months in the 2003-2004 season.
He is a holder of the highest coaching license worldwide -the UEFA/FIFA
Pro-license, having attended a UEFA coaching instructor course.
Hey made his presence felt in Lesotho by qualifying the South-African
nation to the 2005 CAF U-20 Youth Championship finals in Benin 2005
-the same tournament The Gambia had just qualified for.
The German defeated the Italian Roberto Landi in the race to coach
Liberia Lone Star last month.
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