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 Liberia’s massive preparation leading to
the Gambian match in the opening stages
of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™
qualifying campaign is on course as the
Lone Star is set to play a few more
trial matches in Germany and Morocco
later this month.
One problem that had been besetting
Liberia’s football and became an ongoing
saga was the lack of adequate
preparation and the team new German
Coach is making all effort to control
this menace and make his romance with
the Lone Star is success.
On 12 May 2008, Coach Antoine Hey told
Liberiansoccer, the Lone Star will
depart Monrovia via Casablanca for
Leipzig, Germany and is overly
optimistic the 26 players called for the
German camp will all be available.
“At the moment, we are preparing our
camp. The German FA is working very hard
to give us a perfect environment for our
camp”, Coach Hey disclosed.
“We are going to meet on Monday, 12 May
in Leipzig. Only Dioh Williams and
Oliver Makor will join one day later,
because they’ve their last league match
to play".
"We’ll have 26 players in camp, but
we’ve no final confirmation on the
players Louis Crayton, Jimmy Dixon and
Dulee Johnson, but I trust that they are
informed and will be there in time”, he
added.
The German Coach said there will be no
room for lackluster attitude, something
that trammeled the Lone Star in crisis
in previous competitions and is going to
institute tight measures against any
player that shows discourtesy to his
preps and the rest of the team.
“If a player is not in camp by Monday,
12 May 2008, he will be replaced, unless
he is excused like Oliver Makor and Dioh
Williams. We’ve no time to waste, it
would be sad, but I am not waiting for
anybody”, he stressed.
While in the Germany, Lone Star will
test Hertha Berlin, 11th in the German
Bundesliga, on 15 May 2008 in Berlin,
one day before the German side meets
Bayern Munich in the concluding round of
the German top flight.
Three days later, another consummate
trial match will come on in Cottbus
against Energie Cottbus, 14th in the
Bundesliga, and hopefully, Coach Hey
stated, another test match will be
scheduled for 20 May to round-up the
German training camp.
Coach Hey disclosed: “On 23. May 2008,
we will leave Germany for Casablanca,
Morocco where we will meet Morocco for a
final warm up match. We are expected
back in Monrovia on Monday, 26 May for
the final phase of our preparation
towards Gambia”.
Taking a look at what is happening in
the Gambian camp, Peter Bonu Johnson has
been appointed as caretaker Coach of the
Gambia while the country's top football
officials seek a foreigner to take
charge, but with time running out, he
may still be at the reins for the
Liberia game.
Gambia will be counting on the youth
side players that won the African U-17
Championship, which they hosted, in 2005
and the same team that went on to play
at the FIFA U-17 World cup in Peru.
In 2007, the same generation continued
on the same path and also qualified for
the FIFA U-20 World Cup, where they
acquitted themselves with aplomb.
Johnson was coach of the team that
progressed beyond the first phase in
Canada, before losing to Austria in the
last 16.
Recently, the players that won the
continental championship three years ago
finally received promised plots of land,
which Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh, a
fanatical football follower, had
promised them as reward for bringing
Gambia their first footballing title at
continental level.
While the younger players like Pa Modou
Jagne and Ousman Jallow have risen from
the U-20 side to represent Gambia at
full international level, there is still
a strong base of experienced
competitors.
Captain Edrissa Sonko, formerly of
Anderlecht, is now with Walsall in
England, and Pa Demba Touray keeps goal
for Swedish club Djurgardens. Abdoulie
Mansally and Sainey Nyassi, both 19, are
examples of the Gambia's recent spike in
respectability and export value.
After impressing for the Baby Scorpions
at last summer's FIFA U-20 finals in
Canada, they are about to begin their
first full season in the USA's
top-flight with Boston-based New England
Revolution.
Sensational striker Ousmane Jallow
signed with Al Ain in UAE after a stint
at Raja Casablanca. Tijan Jaiteh
recently became the second Gambian
player to line up for Norwegian champs
SK Brann, who participated in this
year's UEFA Cup.
Abdou Ceesay and Ebrima Sohna also play
in Norway while Paul Jatta went out on
trials at English Championship side
Southampton and Modou Jagne is in the
Austrian top flight with SC Rheindorf
Altach.
Liberia is drawn in Group 6 alongside
struggling powers Senegal, Algeria and
the Gambia.
More info fifa.com
Source:
Liberiansoccer.com
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