Saturday, May 10, 2025
THE LIBERIAN INVESTIGATOR
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Investigations
  • News
    • National News
    • County News
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Human Interest
    • Press Release
    • Media
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Op-Ed
    • Opinions
    • Letters from the Editor
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Fact Checks
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
  • Sports
THE LIBERIAN INVESTIGATOR
  • Home
  • Investigations
  • News
    • National News
    • County News
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Human Interest
    • Press Release
    • Media
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Op-Ed
    • Opinions
    • Letters from the Editor
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Fact Checks
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
  • Sports
THE LIBERIAN INVESTIGATOR
No Result
View All Result
Home Sports

“We thought we were there” – Crayton recounts Liberia’s 2002 World Cup nightmare

by Thomas Kojo Roulhac
February 26, 2025
in Sports
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
“We thought we were there” – Crayton recounts Liberia’s 2002 World Cup nightmare

Football, 2002 World Cup Qualifier, African Second Round, Group B, Accra, 28th January 2001, Ghana 1 v Liberia 3, Liberia goalkeeper Louis Crayton (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

MONROVIA – Former Liberia national team goalkeeper Louis B. Crayton has attributed the country’s failure to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup to a lack of discipline and focus among players, dismissing long-standing claims that George Weah deliberately lost the decisive game.

Crayton emphasized that Liberia’s heartbreaking elimination was due to players’ complacency and inability to maintain discipline in camp ahead of the crucial match that could have secured the nation’s historic qualification.

“We didn’t qualify for the World Cup because of discipline issues. We weren’t disciplined. We were careless, we were complacent—we thought we were already there,” he lamented.

The former shot-stopper also debunked conspiracy theories suggesting that then-national team captain and technical director George Weah sold the game to prevent then-President Charles G. Taylor, a former warlord, from attending the World Cup due to international sanctions.

“The idea that Weah sold the game because world leaders didn’t want Taylor traveling abroad is false,” Crayton asserted. “Not only Weah, but every player on that team should be blamed. We were all guilty. I don’t know whether Weah sold the game, but I am sure we were complacent.”

Liberia’s dream of playing at the 2002 World Cup ended on July 1, 2001, when the Lone Star suffered a 2-1 defeat to Ghana’s Black Stars at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex. The loss dashed their hopes of securing a spot in the tournament co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

Speaking as a guest on Punch FM on Monday, February 24, 2025, Crayton also dismissed claims that Joe Nagbe’s wedding celebration distracted the team. While he acknowledged that he was injured during the wedding festivities and missed the match against Ghana, he insisted that the event took place eight days before the game and was not a factor in their elimination.

Crayton further reflected on how the failure to qualify for the World Cup marked the decline of Liberia’s national team.

“That lack of discipline and focus in that game ultimately led to the downfall of the famous ‘Weah Eleven.’ Successive national team players have been affected by it,” he said.

The former Grasshoppers, Basel, and D.C. United goalkeeper also criticized the Liberian government and the football association for failing to rebuild and help the country move past the disappointment of 2002.

“If Timothy Weah, who was only two years old when he was taken to the 2002 AFCON, has achieved so much in football—playing for PSG, Celtic, Juventus—what has happened to a whole nation of over five million people?” Crayton questioned.

When asked why he has not returned home to help improve goalkeeping in Liberia, he revealed that he has made several proposals to the Liberia Football Association (LFA), but they have all been rejected.

Tags: Louis B. Crayton
ShareTweetSend
Thomas Kojo Roulhac

Thomas Kojo Roulhac

Next Post
Selective Justice Will Doom Liberia’s Fight Against Corruption

Liberia’s Fiscal Crisis—A Government Out of Control

Boakai appoints EPA Director to lead taskforce on coastal and wetland protection

Boakai appoints EPA Director to lead taskforce on coastal and wetland protection

Discussion about this post

Recommended

Legislative Public Account Com’tee slams Boakai’s anti-corruption stance as political bluf

Legislative Public Account Com’tee slams Boakai’s anti-corruption stance as political bluf

3 months ago
Liberian Women Call for Peace Amid Speaker Koffa Removal Controversy

Liberian Women Call for Peace Amid Speaker Koffa Removal Controversy

7 months ago

    Connect with us

    Home

    About Us

    Investigations

    News

    Politics

    Business 

    Editorial

    Contact Us

    Privacy Policy

    Advertise with us

    Stay updated with the latest news by subscribing to our WhatsApp Channel

    Click Here to Subscribe

    © 2024 THE LIBERIAN INVESTIGATOR, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement. 

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • Investigations
    • News
      • National News
      • County News
      • Health
      • Environment
      • Human Interest
      • Press Release
      • Media
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Editorial
    • Commentary
    • Op-Ed
      • Opinions
      • Letters from the Editor
      • Letters to the Editor
    • Fact Checks
    • Lifestyle
      • Entertainment
    • Sports

    © 2023