LFA Makes U-turn on Care-taker Coach

The long awaited and much talked-about Italian coach Roberto Landi was Thursday unveiled by the Liberia Football Association as the acting coach in place of Hungarian coach Bertalan Bisckei who’s currently undergoing treatment in Europe.

Speaking to journalist yesterday at the ATS during his first training session, Roberto Landi said, his coming to Liberia is a big challenge to his career as a coach.

He said: “Five days ago, I received a called from Musa Shannon, who is the Vice President for Administration of the Liberia Fooball Association, that Liberia needs an acting coach. I selected Liberia ahead of the offered from English side, Crystal Palace last week and discuss things with my family that am heading for Liberia.”

The Italian said he will call thirteen to fourteen oversea players for Liberia’s international match,  to include Anthony Laffor, Sekou Jabateh and others playing in Israel as some of the professionals he knows. “I will focus on the local players to build a strong side in the best shortest possible time available for the game. We will also build our defense but, we need goals,” he added.

During his discussion with the troupe of local players during their first training session, Landi noted that he will focus on 85% attacking drills, emphasizing that Liberia needed goals to make the difference. Liberia Football Association President Musa Bility said the Italian will earn $15,000 monthly.

“The coach is hired for three months by the Liberia Football Association, not from the FIFA Emergency Program, after which the FA will evaluate his performance for extension if Bisckei is unable to continue,” Bility explained. Bility also denied reports of Jimmy Dixon’s ejection from the national team, saying the selection of overseas players will be done by Landi.

Up to this latest information, the LFA has always given the impressions that it was FIFA that was undertaken this venture for a care-taker coach for the National team. While he was arriving in Liberia, the LFA was quoted as saying that the care-taker coach was dispatched by FIFA for three months at its expense and not the Liberian FA.

Handball Enters Bomi County

The Liberia National Handball Association is continuing efforts to decentralize its activities throughout the country. As part of the exercise, a training program has been scheduled for  Monday in Tubmanburg, Bomi County. James Wrokpoh, Secretary General of the Handball Association told this paper that the one week exercise will bring together teachers, students, sports authorities and residents of the county.

The Association, a fortnight ago, undertook similar program  in Grand Cape Mount involving schools and other teams in the county for their inclusion into the national process. Wrokpoh said they were engaging rural dwellers because they had a lot to offer the game.

Meanwhile, the national Handball team is continuing its preparations for its upcoming international matches. About 20 students were recently scouted from the just-ended High-School justify-your-inclusion competition.