Chance would be a fine thing

Kingston is also fired by a need to put right what went wrong two years ago in Egypt. At that tournament, Ghana, weakened by injuries to Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari and Asamoah Gyan, went out in the group stage, suffering a painful loss to their great rivals Nigeria as they did so.

Even worse for Kingston, he was sent off against Senegal for his part in an innocuous scuffle with Habib Beye – he seemed to do little more than fall over as the full-back flicked a half-hearted arm at him – and received a four-game ban that ruled him out of the World Cup. "I did nothing, but it was the referee's decision and you cannot change it. He's the king on the field. I met Habib Beye in London after that and we spoke to each other – just 'hi, how are you…' Nothing special, but it's passed. I'm looking forward to better things in front of me."

Helping Ghana win their first Nations Cup since 1982 would certainly help to make up for missing out on their first World Cup appearance, particularly as it would pull Ghana level with Egypt on five titles, and so restore the position they had held since 1965 as the most successful side on the continent. So desperate is Kingston to do his part that he played through the opening game against Guinea despite being in obvious pain from the ankle injury that kept him out throughout December.

"I wasn't 100% for the first game, but they needed my services and I did everything to be fit," he explained. "It wasn't so serious – I was 90%. There were a couple of times I was hurting but I pushed myself through and now it has gone. It's more important playing in your own country with your friends, your relatives and your family watching you. We see fans on the streets cheering us and that's a very nice thing. It's a very good motivation to do more."

Besides, success with Ghana is Kingston's only chance of silverware this season, after Hearts' defeat to Rangers in Wednesday's CIS Cup semi-final. "I very much wanted to play in that game," he said, "but it's very difficult. I rang a few players on Wednesday to wish them good luck, but…. now finishing in the top six is a very big thing for the club."

The 27-year-old is confident that they can do that, blaming the club's early-season problems on an absence of "rhythm". "Stephen Frail is a very good manager," he said. "He was doing most of the work in the team anyway. (Anatoliy] Korobochka is the technical director. He sometimes gives his ideas to Frail and he comes and tells us."

Kingston's image as a snarling hard-man with a hair-trigger temper is not entirely representative. There is also a softer side. Since moving to Scotland, he has become a devotee of crosswords, and he has always spent a lot of his time reading. Not for him, though, the self-help books, autobiographies or thrillers that might be expected, but "stories about relationships and love".

Off the field, there is a self-effacing shyness about him, which perhaps explains why he has never bothered to correct anybody over the pronunciation of his name: it is not "La-ree-ya", as most people call him, but "Lar-yay". The confusion over his surname is also readily explicable. Richard, his half-brother, the Ghana and Birmingham City goalkeeper, spells his Kingson without a T, but that is an error resulting from a spelling mistake on his shirt at a youth tournament.

Their father, who was also a Ghana international goalkeeper, has the T.

Given he has played in Israel and for three Russian clubs, it is perhaps surprising Kingston has escaped without his name being mangled. His move to Scotland was directly inspired by Vladimir Romanov. "Romanov came to watch a game between Lokomotiv and Dinamo," Kingston remembers.

"After the game he saw me and he said, 'Oh, you're a good player, I like you. I would like you to play in Scotland one day.' So I said, 'OK'. Once in a while he comes to see the players, advise the players. But he doesn't usually come round the club. He was very keen on me, very happy to see me, happy to talk to me. He's a bright man, a good man, he likes football."

And Kingston seems more than happy in Scotland. "I've got myself a place in Livingston, so that shows I'm committed," he said. "It's easier for me and my family in Scotland because we all speak English.

"It was difficult to understand people at first, but now my friends in Ghana think I say some words with a Scottish accent. I like playing at Tynecastle because the fans are so close to the pitch and always shouting and screaming."

He believes as well that he has developed as a player since joining Hearts. "Before I used to hit simple balls and not move," he said.

"But in Scotland if you are not moving they are not happy. You have to be running for 90 minutes, so I have more pace now. And my crossing has improved. When you have respons
ibility you have to work on your game, so I've been giving myself 20 minutes on my own after training trying to hit the target, hit the target, hit the target…"

The effectiveness of that practice was evident in the opening game of the tournament, when Kingston, in the first half at least, was Ghana's most dangerous player. He then picked up a second yellow card against Namibia, ruling him out of last Monday's 2-0 victory over Morocco. That was by far Ghana's most impressive display of the tournament, but Kingston is confident he will regain his place. "The management respects me. They know what I can do."

He showed just what he is capable of last time Ghana met Nigeria last February when he got the opening goal, a screamer from 20 yards, in his side's 4-1 win – their first victory over their closest rivals in 15 years. Kingston just hopes he is given the chance to repeat the feat.

Taken from the Scotsman