Enterprising Liberian female coach, Famatta Dean, has guided World Girls to the Orange Cup final for the second consecutive season.
World Girls secured their place in the final with a commanding 9-0 aggregate victory over Ravia Angels. They won the second leg 5-0 at the Samuel Kanyon Doe (SKD) Sports Complex on Wednesday, following a 4-0 first-leg win at the same venue two weeks ago.
Nicknamed the ‘Iron Ladies’, World Girls lost last season’s final to Shaita Angels on post-match penalties.
Coach Dean, in a post-match interview, expressed delight that her team was able to overcome numerous challenges this season to reach the final again.
“I am happy that we made it to the final despite the many challenges the club is going through this season. We are dealing with a lot of injuries which have affected our performance, but we keep motivating the players that are available—and this is the result. I am really happy,” Dean stated.
Dean, who is also head coach of Liberia’s U-20 Women’s National Team, added, “We were there last season and lost to a very good team, Shaita Angels, in post-match penalties, but there are a lot of things we learned from that game.”
World Girls will now face Determine Girls, who booked their place in the final with a 2-1 win over Senior Female Professionals on Thursday at the SKD.
Dean joined World Girls during the 2023–2024 season, marking her first competitive stint as a coach in the Liberian women’s league. She led the ‘Iron Ladies’ back to the Liberia Women’s Upper League in 2024 after the club had been relegated to the Lower Women’s League.
Also in 2024, the former captain of the Liberia Women’s Senior National Team guided the U-20 side to a third-place finish at the WAFU Zone A U-20 Championship held in Dakar, Senegal.
As a CAF ‘B’ License holder and local coaching instructor, Dean has inspired more women to enter coaching, reflecting her ambition to someday coach in the National County Sports Meet—Liberia’s biggest sporting festival.
“I have the dream to coach in the County Meet. It’s possible, and I think more women coaches should begin to dream big. Nothing is impossible—that’s why I keep working harder,” she said in a 2024 interview.
Dean played for many years in the National League with Blanco FC and also featured in the National County Sports Meet in both kickball and volleyball.
In a related development, LISCR FC are through to the grand final of the Orange Cup despite a 3-2 defeat to Watanga on Wednesday at the SKD. Having won the first leg 3-0, the defeat was not enough to deny the ‘Shipping Boys’ a place in the final.
LISCR will face the winner of tomorrow’s game between Invincible Eleven (IE) and Black Man Warrior.
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