Liberia FA shuns Siasia, names Smith new national coach

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines, Soccer, Sports Thursday, May 10th, 2012

Liberia Football Association has shunned former Eagles’ handler, Samson Siasia for the post of its national team coach, as it has appointed Kaetu Smith to coach the Lone Star. The Liberian replaces Italy’s Roberto Landi, who was dismissed by the FA in February.

Smith, last coached in Liberia in the 1990s, leading both Baccus Marines and LPRC Oilers, with the latter winning the title under his charge in 1998-99 season.
The length of Smith’s contract has yet to be announced, although talks are understood to be ongoing.

The immediate task for Smith, who has spent much of the last decade coaching youth teams in the United States, will be to prepare his team for next month’s vital qualifiers.

His first competitive game in charge comes in just over three weeks, as the Lone Star travel to Senegal for its opening 2014 World Cup qualifier. A home match against Angola in the same competition comes up the following week (with Uganda making up Group J).

Between June 15 and 17, Liberia will turn her attention to the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Namibia.
The Lone Star will be protecting a 1–0 lead from the first leg in Windhoek, as the team tries to reach the second round of the qualifiers. Liberia, which has never reached the World Cup finals, has only contested in two Nations Cup tournaments in its history – in 1996 and 2002.

Smith never played for the Lone Star, currently ranked 112th by FIFA, but he played club football in Liberia. In the late 1990s, he worked as deputy to Coach Henry Brown and both of them led some of Liberia’s youth sides to prestigious titles in Sweden (Gothia Cup) and Denmark (Dana Cup).

-Sunwp_posts