National Teams
Liberia’s Sekou Manubah reflects on U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers stint vs Nigeria
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Despite a heavy 6-1 aggregate loss to Nigeria’s U-17 girls, Liberia’s head coach, Abraham Manubah, remains optimistic about the experience gained by his team.
During the qualifiers, Liberia achieved a significant victory over Senegal before facing the formidable Nigerian side, who are the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup bronze medalists. Although they did not qualify for the World Cup, Manubah finds many positives in the journey.
“It was a great feeling. Having been a player and coming back to share my experience with young players is a very good feeling with lots of experience,” Manubah told Liberia Football Association Media.
After returning to Monrovia from Abuja on Monday, the coach expressed his gratitude: “I want to be grateful to Almighty Allah for his blessings that I was able to accomplish this and reach this far,” he said.
Manubah acknowledged the hard work put in by his team: “We worked hard to see how we can get to the World Cup but were defeated by the champions of Africa. I am very excited. It was a good experience seeing great talents being developed and getting to see African football from the women’s end.”
He stressed the importance of maintaining the current group of U-17 players for future projects, with hopes of reaching Nigeria’s level in the coming years.
“We wanted to qualify for the World Cup and showcase what we have in Liberia, and see how we can redefine women’s football in Liberia with young players,” Manubah explained.
The coach highlighted the need for better preparation, noting that Nigeria had more resources and friendly matches to prepare. “The players now have lots of opportunities and platforms unlike before. I am hoping Liberia keeps these players together. The future is bright.
“I hope the Liberian government helps the Football Association to keep these girls together like Nigeria, which had a three-year project. We faced a team that had a year’s project with a month of preparation. If we have a three-year project, we will be African champions,” he concluded.
