The newly appointed coach of the Liberian National Team, Mario Marinica, has lighted out an impressive expression on the performance of players at the training activities of the team, after different sessions with local-based players across the nation’s first and second division leagues.
Following the dismal performances shown by the national team, especially under the watch of its immediate past head coach, Ansumana Keita, the team was graded as one of the poorest teams on the continent, until the unveiling of coach Mario, as he is often called, with over 30 years of coaching experience.
Despite the new coach’s approach amid accusations that the national team is slow, he has revealed that the team is impressive after conducting different sessions with the players on the local scene, and has initiated interaction and training camps with the players to ascertain the pace of development in the team for the past week, ahead of his first international clash against Djibouti that will be played in a back-to-back format on March 20 and 26, 2024.
Concluding a basic practice session on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville City, the coach said there have been many issues in the performance of the players and the regular trainings are addressing those needs to have them prepare for the game ahead.
He said it has been impressive for the past weeks of training to have the players reporting to camp and forming part of the training, as well as responding to the technical instructions that are given.
According to Mario, there are lots of things to improve on at the level of the national team, while the players will be engaged continuously to make an impact on the activities of Lone Star.
Of the many things, he emphasized that the issue of fitness in the players remains outstanding, and all of the individual players will have to work on their own physical fitness using different training programs and camps.
He furthered that they, as management of the Lone Star, are also concerned about taking more dynamic standards to the game for the players, because it has been observed that footballers will be slow or fast on the ball based on the dynamics of the team that they form part of.
He encouraged players to raise their level of participation in the team and their different clubs, as it is expected that there will be opportunities to have different local and foreign-based players getting called to the national team.
He then urged the Liberian people to have a high level of trust in the Lone Star under his watch, and be hopeful that the needed results will come, not judging from a point of expectation because high expectations could drop the team’s performance.
