Denmark v Liberia
Denmark (5) v Liberia (11)
It was only for third place. Yeah right. Try telling the Liberians who have played their last three games with no available substitutes. We can only dream of what might have been if the extra bodies had been around for the semi-final against Scotland yesterday.
Today they came here with same steely-eyed, unflagging determination they have displayed over the past week and if you can find a Dane who would begrudge them their win here on Pitch One he'd be a lonely bloke. Cherie Sayon, their lone female striker and one of the stars of this Homeless World Cup is as hard as nails - she led the line while others scored, but for us she was player of the match.The Danes may well have just used all the fuel in the tank well before this fixture. Liberia, calmly keeping possession, drilled four past Denmark's 'keeper. Naldo pulled a couple back to leave it reasonably balanced at the break.
Any thoughts the Liberians would tire in the last seven minutes of their tournament were quickly put in the bin as they went berserk - in a quiet sort of way. No time for elaborate celebrations, they knew they had to get the ball back and keep it, which they did to frustrate the Danes. Although Denmark kept within two goals, Liberian discipline eventually ground them down. They hit double figures with a cheeky display of showboating - looking the wrong way when passing, that kind of thing. All three outfielders did it, strung together a few more passes, got bored and then rammed it home. Summed it up really. A nice show of African unity followed the final whistle as the Nigerian and and Kenyan squads rushed on to hug the joyous, but exhausted Liberians.
Frank Prenesti