13 years after dropping him from World Cup, Rajevac reconnects with Laryea Kingston

The pair came into contact at the UEFA U16 Development Tournament, which was recently hosted by Serbia.

Ghana participated in the tournament, with the Black Starlets going on to be crowned champions with a perfect record of three wins from three matches.

Laryea, who is the assistant coach of the Black Starlets, crossed paths with Rajevac after the Serbian manager visited the team during the tournament.

Reports suggest the pair held productive discussions, while a photo of their meeting has gone viral on social media.

Laryea was a key member of the Black Stars between 2002 and 2010, making 41 appearances and scoring six goals.

However, he was not part of Ghana’s squad when the Black Stars featured at their maiden World Cup in 2006 due to a red card he received in the AFCON earlier that year.

He was again controversially dropped by Rajevac from Ghana’s 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup despite heavily featuring in the qualifiers.

This closed the door to the winger’s dreams of playing at the World Cup and he retired without actualising that dream.

In an interview with Accra-based Radio Gold last year, Laryea admitted that it still hurts that he never featured at the World Cup.

“Not going to the World Cup, 2006, 2010 for me is still a tough moment me when I think about it or when I start talking about it,” he said.

“Because in 2006, I played every game, every qualifier, every friendly game, every game throughout the 2006 qualification, I was part of it but I couldn’t make it.

“In 2010, it was the same, I played every single game so last game to go to the World Cup, I was asked to go home,” he added.