We would have performed better if Laryea Kingston played with us at the World Cup – Stephen Appiah

Former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah has expressed disappointment over his teammate Laryea Kingston’s three-match ban, which resulted in his absence from the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Germany and subsequent exclusion from the 2010 World Cup.

Between 2002 and 2010, Laryea was a regular for the Black Stars, appearing in 41 games and scoring six goals. Due to a three-match suspension suffered during the AFCON earlier that year, he was not part of Ghana’s team when the Black Stars competed in their first World Cup in 2006.

Despite being part of a provisional squad that camped in France prior to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he was once again dropped by coach Milovan Rajevac.

“If Laryea were in the game, I’m sure we would have gone somewhere, I’m not saying this because I have a soft spot for him. If Laryea was in the team, it would have been a different ball game, you saw it when we played, it was unbelievable, the four of us (Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah, Sulley Muntari, Laryea Kingston) we played without positioning, it was beautiful.” Appiah told Joy News.

“When I look back, I feel we were not complete even though we appeared in the 2006 and 2010 Africa and world cup games. We all know Laryea knows how to play, I’m not even taking that into consideration, I’m saying that he should have been there because of the sacrifices he made for the team,” he added.

Stephen Appiah stated that they did not fight the ban on behalf of Laryea Kingston due to a lack of understanding, something he regrets to this day.

“I wish we could go back and correct certain things, I think we were naïve because we didn’t know certain rules in the game, later I watched a world cup where Rooney was banned but was still taken to the World Cup if we had that knowledge, we would have appealed his ban” he sadly said.