2006 FIFA World Cup: Laryea Kingston’s exclusion affected the team – Stephen Appiah

Former Black Stars captain, Stephen Appiah has opened up about the exclusion of Laryea Kingston from the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad by the then coach Ratomir Dujkovic.

The former Hearts of Oak midfielder (Laryea) who was a key player for the stars during the qualifiers was one of the shocking candidates who missed out on the country’s first appearance at the world stage in Germany.

14 years after Ghana’s debut at the World Cup, Appiah who was also Laryea teammates at Hearts Oak told GTV Sports plus in an interview that the decision by Coach Ratomir Dujkovic came as a surprise to the entire playing body.

“When the news came to us, we felt very sad especially me because he was my roommate.”

“Laryea was a good player and we all enjoyed playing with him but it was just unfortunate that he never played at the World Cup.”

Appiah claimed that the team would have been different if Laryea Kingston was part of the players who represented Ghana at the world stage in Germany.

“I remember the players were arguing that Laryea’s inclusion would have given the team a different dimension during our camping ahead of the tournament but that was the decision of the coach and you can’t contest it.”

Source: www.ghanaweb.com