Laryea Kingston reveals why Dujkovic dropped him from 2006 FIFA World Cup

Laryea Kingston was one of the key members of the Black Stars ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but he was suspended for the first two games of the tournament, following a red card during the Africa Cup of Nations.

Ratomir Dujkovic dropped him from his 23-man squad for the finals in Germany.

The former Hearts of Oak winger has disclosed that the Serbian tactician took that decision because a lot of people did not have confidence that the team could reach the knockout stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

“Everyone knew I was going to miss the first two games if the suspension still stands, but I didn’t know I’ll be excluded from the World cup squad,” he told Citi TV.

“Around that time, I was one of the core players in the team, so I wasn’t expecting to be excluded. I remember talking to the coach, Doya and he told me they didn’t have confidence in us making it to the next round because it was our first time at the World cup and since I had to miss the first 2 games, there was no point in me being part of the squad.

“For me, I think I worked tirelessly, I did my part, I was there to defend my country and I’m proud that I was part of the squad that qualified the country to her first World cup,” he concluded.

Ghana qualified from a very difficult group which had Italy, Czech Republic and the USA.

The West Africans however, exited from the competition after a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in the round of 16

Four years later, Kingston was excluded from the squad assembled by Milovan Rajevac for the World Cup in South Africa