Laryea Kingston

Former Ghana international, Laryea Kingston says he has what it takes to lead Ghana’s U-17 side, the Black Starlets to reclaim its glory.

The former midfielder was announced as the head coach for the Starlets team by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) on Thursday.

Kingston was a silver medalist with the Starlets in 1997 and later on, became an important player for the Black Stars.

He has been tasked with leading the two-time world champions back to glory.

“There is going to be pressure. I know Ghanaians are craving to see us going back to our glory days in the youth level, so that’s why the FA was very patient in bringing in a new group of technical team who are young and upcoming coaches with knowledge of youth football,” he told 3Sports.

“I’ve been in an environment that has a lot of youth players in Right To Dream. I worked there for four years. I was the U18s coach. Some of the players that are playing for big clubs went through my hands at some point.

“Some of these players are Kamaldeen, Nuamah, Adingra and so on. Now we have Osman and Arafat coming up. I have what it takes (to lead the Black Starlets),” he added.

The Black Starlets have missed the AFCON and World Cup in every single edition since their last appearance in 2017.