Wonderkid Devine Teah Rescues Liberia U20 against Morocco
Devine Teah celebrates with his teammates after scoring against Morocco U-20 (photo: T Kla Wesley).
Jacob Yoko. Harris (Intern)
It was a wonderful moment for 16-year-old Devine Teah at the ATS on Tuesday, as his double free kick goals forced Morocco U20 to a 2-2 draw.
The Liberia Football Association (LFA) organized a week-long International friendly between Liberia, Morocco, and Sierra Leone all at the U20 and U17 levels. The friendly matches have been ongoing at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS) since the 4th of June 2022.
Liberia lost 2-1 in the first-leg against Morocco. The Moroccans took the lead in the 15 minutes of the game before Abraham Kamara equalized for the U20 Lone Star 40 minutes on the clock. The Moroccans never wasted time to reclaim the lead in the 43rd minute, winning the match 2-1.
Despite the results, wonder kid Teah’s talents couldn’t go unnoticed. His exceptional performances in the middle proved vital as he gained the admiration of spectators and the opponents as well. The best moment of his performance was during the second leg.
After the visitors had taken the lead midway through the first half that saw them maintain the lead to the first half break, Teah came to the junior Lone Star’s rescue by firing home his first free kick goal to level things up.
The Moroccans made it 2-1 in the early minutes of the second half, but it was 16-year-old Teah that again came to coach Tapha Manneh’s rescue. Interestingly, it was another powerful free kick goal from about 25 yards. These free kicks were not just the actions of the kid. His confidence was another factor in his performance. His dribbling, end-to-end passes were something unforgettable.
Liberians may be missing some former senior national team players like Sekou Jabateh, Anthony Laffor, and others for their skills. The lad has shown that there are still more of those players among the current breed of grassroots players.
The Nimba Kwado man was also outstanding for his club in the LFA just ended national league. Teah recently featured for the senior national team against Benin, Sierra Leone, and Burundi in the Artaya International friendlies played in Turkey. He scored his first goal against Burundi when he got Liberia’s consolation through a volley from Freeport FC’s Frank Allison assist. Burundi won the match 2-1.
Teah was also included in coach Peter Butler’s lineup as the senior national team will face Morocco on Monday, June 13, in Casablanca in the first leg of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers. Coach Butler, along with his 23-man squad and other delegation members, arrived in Morocco on Wednesday ahead of the match.
Full Squad:
GOALKEEPERS: SONGO’S, Tommy (LISCR, Liberia), YEANAYE, Junior (Nimba Kwado, Liberia), JULU, Derrick (Watanga, Liberia)
DEFENDERS: DWEH, Sampson (LPRC Oilers, Liberia), BALDE, Prince (KF Drita, Kosovo), PABAI, Mark (Spal, Italy), ARAGO, Jamal (Sabail, Azerbaijan), DENNIS, Eugene (Ishoj IF, Denmark), ADUKOR, Joachim (FC Aktobe, Kazakhstan)
MIDFIELDERS: TEAH, Devine (Nimba FC, Liberia), SOUMAORO, Mo Brem (PAEEK FC, Cyprus), DENNIS, Eugene (Ishoj IF, Denmark), SANOH, Moussa (CS Moveni, Romania), HEELBERG, Seth Kanteh (IK Brage, Sweden), ALLISON, Frank (Freeport FC, Liberia), NJIE, Allen (Aarau, Switzerland), MACAULEY, Marcus (Mghayar Al-Sarhan, Saudi Arabia), DORLEY, Murphy (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic), SALMON, Justin (Degerfors, Sweden), NYANAMAH, Julius (Nimba Kwado, Liberia)
FORWARDS: KARPEH, Molley (Syracuse Pulse, USA), SHERMAN, Kpah (Terengganu), DWEH, Patrick (Freeport FC, Liberia)