President George Weah has disclosed that he is not disappointed in the performance of the current national football team of Liberia.

The Lone Star recently ended their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers campaign with six points from six marches, finishing 3rd in Group C.Prior to that, the Lone Star in October of 2019 bowed out of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after losing against CHAD in the preliminaries.

The national team’s performance in the two international competitions, coupled with Coach Peter Butler’s selection, has been greeted with mixed reactions including expressions of disappointment in the team’s performance and calls for the coach’s dismissal.

However, the Chief Patron of Sports has a different view. “I am not disappointed in the national team, I am not. I will never be disappointed in the performance of young children trying to be better players."

"We did it, remember you people used to call us a ‘did well’ team, but when we went for training in Brazil and came back, all our players had the opportunity to go out and play in the European leagues. After that, we had one of the great teams in Africa. So this is a new team,” President Weah told journalists Wednesday when he paid an inspection visit to the Invincible Park project site. 

President Weah was among several players sent to Brazil for advanced training in Brazil by former President Samuel K. Doe, after which time a majority were fortunate to secure contracts in top leagues across Europe.

According to President Weah, it’s too early to lose hope in the current breed of players as it took his generation several years to reach their peak. 

“This is a new team and it will take time to develop. This is not our George Weah era, so all we need to do is to encourage them and help them grow,” President Weah said.