Butler pleased with performance despite off-field issues

Peter Butler

Friday Nov 08, 2019. 12:00

Liberia coach Peter Butler praised the performance of his players in the narrow 1-0 friendly loss to Egypt on Thursday as he revealed payment issues within the squad had affected their build-up.

Liberia, who are not involved in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, went down to a late Hamdy Fathy goal, having had chances of their own to get a famous win.

“We fought against Egypt and performed really well, despite the Pharaohs’ strength and our lack of experience,” Butler told Onsport.

“I’m proud of my players for their performance even though they still haven’t received their outstanding payments.

“I’m disappointed with some of the refereeing decisions but that’s football. We were organised throughout the game. I told my players that it was necessary to keep this level and not concede goals.

“We lost 1-0 against Egypt, which is an amazing result for us. This game will increase our experience and I want to thank the Egyptian FA for their invitation.”

Liberia will be involved in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers after winning through to the group stages after defeating Sierra Leone in the preliminary stage.