Published: December 30, 2024
MONROVIA — Liberia has suffered yet another setback in international football, as the local national team was eliminated from the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers following a crushing 3-0 defeat to Senegal on Sunday.
With the first leg ending in a 1-1 draw in Monrovia, Liberian football fans were hopeful that the team could stage a strong fight in the second leg. However, Senegal cruised to an easy victory, advancing to the final stage of the CHAN qualifiers with a 4-1 aggregate win. The tournament is set to take place in Kenya in 2025.
This defeat adds to a string of disappointing performances for Liberian football on the international stage. In November, Liberia failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after finishing at the bottom of Group E, which included Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Togo. Earlier this year, the U-20 and U-17 national teams also failed to progress beyond the group stages of the 2024 West African Football Union (WAFU) youth championships held in Monrovia and Dakar, Senegal.
While some football analysts attributed the CHAN team’s failure to a lack of financial motivation, interim Head Coach Thomas Kojo pointed to poor defensive performances as the primary reason for the elimination.
“Our poor performance in defense caused us to concede two goals from set pieces against our opponents,” Kojo remarked.
The first leg saw Liberia hold Senegal to a 1-1 draw in Monrovia, with Seydina Mbaye scoring for Senegal and Bility equalizing for Liberia. However, the return leg in Dakar was a different story. Senegal dominated from the outset, with Oumar Ba opening the scoring in the seventh minute. Baye Ciss added a second goal before halftime.
Desperately needing at least a 2-2 draw to stay in contention, Liberia’s hopes were dashed when Madione Mbaye scored a third goal for Senegal. The defensive lapses of the visiting Liberian team were glaring, leaving many fans unsurprised by the final result.
This marks the third time in five years that Liberia has been eliminated by Senegal in the CHAN qualifiers, a bitter pill for fans who continue to yearn for international football success.
Meanwhile, in 2019, Liberia suffered a 3-1 aggregate humiliation from the same opponents in the 2020 African Nations Championship qualifiers second-leg clash with Thomas Kojo once again serving as interim Coach.
Liberia won the first leg in Monrovia 1-0, thanks to Christopher Jackson’s 89th-minute header that sealed the victory at the old age ATS in downtown Monrovia.
Kojo was fired a few days later after the 2019 elimination which saw the appointment of British man Peter Butler whose contract ended in 2022 with a record of 15 defeats, five wins, and two draws.
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