Playing Without Laryea Kingston At The World Cup Still Hurts

Laryea Kingston

Former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah has confessed that Laryea Kingston’s inability to play at the World Cup still bothers him.

Kingston, who was a crucial member of the senior national team missed out on Ghana’s final squad for their maiden World Cup appearance in 2006 hosted in Germany due to a three-match suspension during the an Africa Cup of Nations tournament earlier that year.

In 2010, the former Vitesse Arnhem player was left out once more when Ghana again qualified for the second consecutive time despite playing a key role in the qualifiers in a situation he describes as depressing.

Stephen Appiah who captained the team to their first World Cup said it was uneasy to play without the winger on the global stage given Kingston’s national team commitments.

“We were naive [in 2006] about the rules…England took Rooney to the World Cup despite him being on suspension. If we had that knowledge in 2006, we would have pleaded with the GFA to add Laryea to the team because it was two games,” he said to Joy Sports.

“I am [pained] because Laryea was one of the players that when I look back, even though we played at the World Cup in 2006 and 2010, it looks as if we were not complete.

“Not because of his football but he should have been there because of his sacrifices. He was part of those who sacrificed. To date, I still feel bad.”

Ghana reached the round of 16 in their debut appearance and advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup, which was hosted in South Africa, where they just missed out on a semifinal berth due to a last-gasp penalty miss against Uruguay.

Ghana, have however failed to advance past the group stage in each of their last two World Cup appearances, with the 2022 World Cup being their most recent disappointment when they fell to Uruguay in their third group encounter.