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.
𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟗𝟎𝐬.
Coach Marinica has made a significant mark in the history of the Liberian Men’s 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 Liberia’s 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.
