Former Hearts of Oak defender, Edmund Copson, says their inability to play at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2000 saw most of the players losing opportunities to play in Europe as well.
Hearts of Oak had won the CAF Champions League in that year after defeating Esperance in the final.
The Ghanaian giants were supposed to represent Africa at the Club World Cup in that tournament.
However, the competition was cancelled by FIFA which Copson said affected most of the players at the time because they were confident of securing big contracts after the tournament.
According to him, most of the Hearts players had received numerous offers after winning the CAF Champions League but were waiting to play at the Club World Cup.
He explained that playing at the tournament would have opened up bigger opportunities for the players.
Speaking in an interview on Happy 98.9FM’s ‘Where Are They’ program with Ohene-Bampoe Brenya on Happy Sports on whether he regretted not playing outside the country and the reason behind it, he said, “Yes I received offers from clubs abroad but I was waiting to go to the Club World Cup to get a better deal but it was cancelled and I missed that opportunity”.
The CAF Champions League winner with Hearts of Oak indicated his only regret was not playing at the Club World Cup.
“We didn’t get the chance to go to the Club World Cup. So it was very painful; it was the only regret I had in my career”.
Copson added that the Hearts of Oak ’64 Battalions’ team were fearsome during the late ’90s because there was happiness and togetherness in the team.
