Monrovia -New Lone Star Coach Mario Marinica is having a bright start as he is yet to taste defeat in his first five matches.
A 2-0 and 1-0 win over Djibouti and Sao Tome and Principe in the Afcon and World qualifiers respectively and three draws with Djibouti, Namibia and Togo, the Romanian is the first foreign coach to achieve such feat in his first five matches.
The Friday pulsating draw with Togo away with a goal in 90+2 minutes was the Lone Star’s latest goal in Afcon qualifiers and just the second goal scored by the Lone Star on Togolese soil since their rivalry began on September 10, 1975 with a 1-0 win for Togo on home soil in an Afcon qualifier.
It can be recollected that the Lone Star first goal on Togolese soil was scored by William Jebor in 2015 in an Afcon qualifier which the Lone Star lost 2-1 after surrendering a goal lead.
The goal on Friday by local club Heaven Eleven forward, William Gibson, saw the Lone Star snatching a draw from the jaws of defeat.
It can be recalled that Wilfred Tijani Lardner, alias Green Banana, became the first ever Lone Star Coach to have an unbeaten run in his first seven games in the group stage of the Afcon qualifiers as there was no World Cup qualifier in between.
Back in the south Africa 1996 Afcon qualifiers, the former Cedar United, Invincible Eleven and Junior Professionals coach, went seven games unbeaten with three wins over Togo, Tunisia and Mauritania all at home and four draws against Mauritania, Tunisia and Togo away and a draw vs Senegal at home.
Their only loss which was their final game was an academic fixture away to Senegal after the Lone Star had already qualified for their first Afcon finals, second behind Tunisia who topped the group on superior goal difference +5 to +1.
๐๐จ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐๐ญ๐๐ง ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ง๐ข ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ซ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ.
Coach Marinica has made a significant mark in the history of the Liberian Menโs national football team coaches by becoming only the second coach in decades to lead his team through five intense qualifier matches without a single defeat.
He proudly stands as a trailblazer and the second manager in Liberiaโs history to achieve such remarkable success.
So far so good for coach Marinica as he and his charges will be welcoming Algeria Fennecs in a crunch Afcon qualifier Round Two on next Tuesday at the SKD.
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