Monrovia – The Liberia Football Association (LFA) has announced that Thomas Kojo will continue as the interim coach of Liberia’s national football team, the Lonestar.
The decision was made following a recommendation from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, which appointed Kojo as the stand-in coach for the country’s two games in March.
The LFA disclosed this in a statement on Friday, February 28, 2025, saying, “Coach Thomas Kojo will lead the team as Stand-In Coach for the upcoming international engagements against Tunisia and Sao Tome.”
The 52-year-old, who took temporary charge of the squad following Mario Marinica’s resignation in October 2024, had his previous contract as interim coach expire in December 2024.
Unfortunately, he did not accomplish his tasks of qualifying Liberia for the 2024 African Nations Championship or achieving a decent run for Liberia in their last two games of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
Liberia is currently third in its qualifying group with seven points, trailing group leader Tunisia by three points.
Tunisia will be hosted at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex on March 19, followed by a match against the lesser-known Sao Tome on the 21st.
Liberians are hopeful that their national team will secure the necessary results to improve their standing in the group and ultimately qualify for the upcoming World Cup finals.
Meanwhile, just a day after being considered for the stand-in coach position, Kojo released a provisional squad of 36 local players to begin early preparations.
His decision to invite such a large number, which many football enthusiasts believe will be reduced to six local players, has faced heavy criticism from social media users.
Mo Papay Konneh commented on Facebook: “Thomas Kojo, please select 10 local-based players from this provisional squad. We don’t trust local-based players. Tunisia is not a small side to put 85 percent local players against them. We need 15 foreign-based players plus 10 local-based players. We saw what happened with our local-based team against the Senegal local-based team,” he wrote.
Additionally, Marthaline M. Jackson wrote under a journalist’s post: “Some of these players Kojo listed are not qualified to play for the national team, and some of them can’t do anything in the first division league they’re playing in.”
Below is the list of local players invited by Thomas Kojo to kickoff training
GOALKEEPERS
1 Tommy Songo – LISCR FC
2 Derrick Julu – Invincible Eleven
3 James Ndebay -Heaven Eleven
4 Teddy Kollie – Watanga FC
5 Abdulai Koulibaly – Global Pharma
6 Junior Yeanay – Wologisi FC
DEFENDERS
7 Eugene Swen – Paynesville FC
8 Josephus Mator- FC Fassell
9 Brandon Debah – LPRC Oilers
10 Nelson Láomie -Watanga FC
11 Sabastin Teclar – LISCR FC
12 John Momoh – LISCR FC
13 Philip Tarnue- Watanga FC
14 Alexander Curtis – Watanga
15 Albert Swen- Heaven Eleven
16 Jah Nyaforh – Blackman Warrior
MIDFIELDERS
17 Jeygbey Konneh – LISCR FC
18 Daniel Toe – LISCR FC
19 Karim Coleman – Blackman Warrior
20 Mickie Dokie – Paynesville FC
21 Josiah Cea – FC Fassell
22 Lawrence Kumeh – FC Fassell
23 Yaya Bility – Heaven Eleven
24 Nicholas Andrew – Heaven Eleven
25 Marvin Blapoh -Global Pharma
26 Kindness Cole – Mighty Barrolle
27 Armah Vaikainah -Bea Mountain
28 Nuch Zohn – Watanga FC
29 Daniel Nyumah – Watanga FC
30 Johnathan Freeman – Discoveries S.A
31 Sheku Sheriff – Shaita FC
STRIKERS
32 Mark Yallah – FC Fassell
33 Roland Kamei – Mighty Barrolle
34 Emmanuel Flomo – LISCR FC
35 William Gibson – Heaven Eleven
36 Patrick Dweh – Freeport FC
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