Ivory Coast Football Federation Vice President Sory Diabate has confirmed an international friendly with Liberia due on 26 Match.
The match will take place at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan on March 26.
Liberia is due to meet DR Congo in Kinshasa in their final 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), and so it needs a draw to make it to the African cup of nations.
Liberia’s national team head coach Thomas Kojo says it is a very good friendly international match.
But he says he believes that it would have been much better if [the friendly] was scheduled before the game with DR Congo.
“Notwithstanding Ivory Coast is one of the big football nations in Africa. But the invitation to play Liberia in a friendly international speaks volumes that our national team is doing well for the players and the team too,” he says.
“This shows that we are making progress in the game. So it is going to be a very good game for our players,” Mr. Kojo explains.
He notes that the local African championship is coming-up very soon and some of the local players will be on the team.
Meanwhile, Kojo says Liberia does not have winning record over Ivory Coast in 15 meetings since June 30, 1965.
Their most recent meetings came in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers with Liberia losing 1-0 on 13 November 2015 in
Monrovia and 3-0 in Abidjan on 17 November 2015.
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Liberia has been to the 1996 and 2002 Afcon finals and Kojo believes securing qualification to a third finals will add more value to the match.
According to him, Liberia has not qualified since 2002, so travelling from Kinshasa to Abidjan is going to be like a whole party and people are going to be celebrating.
Talking about the game with DR Congo, Kojo says it will be a big occasion.
“It is still in the right direction of football because if we don’t qualify it doesn’t mean the national team is over or will be dissolved,” he says.
By Sally Gaye
