Qatar 2022 WCQ: National Hero as 18 year old Ashley Williams qualifiers Liberia to the next round of qualifier

Liberian national football team booked their place in the next round of the Fifa 2022 Qatar World Cup despite 1-0 defeat away in Sierra Leone

The road to Qatar 2022 World Cup is steadily taking shape in Africa and Liberia is one of the nations that have survived a rare scare in the first round of the qualifiers over the weekend

Eighteen year old goalkeeper Ashley Williams became a national hero on Sunday afternoon at the Freetown Stadium in Sierra Leone as he produced a monumental piece of skills to save a spot kick in the 95th minute to see Liberia through on a 3-2 aggregate after the two legged encounter

Liberia came into the match leading on a 3-1 aggregate from the first leg of the encounter but Kei Kamara boosted the host’s hopes with a sublime goal in the 55th minute of the thrilling encounter in Sierra Leone

Liberia held on and looked set to book a ticket to the next stage of qualifiers before a late drama in the match as Sierra Leone were awarded a 94th minute penalty

Amidst wide celebrations and shouts from the home fans in the stadium, the young goalkeeper kept his composure and produced a heroics moment as he saved Umarou Bangura’s spot kick

The match finished 1-0 in favour of Sierra Leone but Liberia went through on a 3-2 aggregate after the two encounters

Ashley Williams is certainly the talk of town in Liberia and a national hero as well. Born on 30th October, 2000, the young goalkeeper currently plays for Liberian top-flight side LISCR FC in the Liberian premier league

He has also had stints with Bassa Town Young Controller and Gardnerville FC

He has seen a rapid transition in his career in recent years following his promotion from the national U20 side to the senior national team

With his continuous improvement, Ashley Williams certainly will be one of the nation’s most reliable pair of safe hands for the new generation of Liberian Football pushing to bring the nation back to the biggest stage in the continent as well as the world

By: Kanyiri Suburu Lucio/@SuburuAbdulai