Accra, June 20, GNA - The Management of Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club has paid glowing tribute to another one of its fallen heroes, Henry Lante France, a former goalkeeper and assistant coach of the Club who passed away on May 10, this year.
A statement issued from the secretariat of the Club described the death of the goalie as a serious loss and was one of the players whose peerless commitment and dedication contributed immensely to the cause of greater Hearts of Oak and the nation as a whole. According to the statement, the former goalie who was a regular player with the Club in the early 70's that led them to win the 1971 league was also a member of the Olympic team in Munich in 1972. It said in the face of legal battles in 1988, Lante France showed his preparedness to die for Hearts when he was cited for contempt in a legal battle between the Patrons and the Board.
The goalie is on record to be the first and maybe the only goalkeeper to have scored a goal by kicking the ball from his goal area straight into the net of the opposing team. He had his last romance with the national team, Black Stars in 1996 when he assisted Brazilian national, coach Ishmeal Kurtz as the goalkeeper's trainer.
Before his demise, Mr Lante nurtured Mamprobi based St Mirren into a top Division One side until a nagging foot injury took him off the pitch. The 58-year old Lante France will be laid in state on Saturday, June 25, at the Nii Saka Street Mamprobi, near Sempe Manste's House and will be buried at the Awudome Cemetery on the same day.
