The Gyamfi Park at Bekwai in the Amansie
East District of the Ashanti Region will on Wednesday afternoon
burst at seams when fabulous Kumasi Asante Kotoko clash with New
Edubease FC in a Glo Premier League fixture.
For six weeks, fans of the local football
league have been starved of the thrills that usually
characterize matches in the elite football competition. As the
competition returns with full force Wednesday, football
enthusiasts would now have a lot to cheer about and those at
Bekwai cannot be left out.
It would be recalled that Kumasi Asante
Kotoko were humiliated by New Edubease FC in Kumasi in the first
round of the competition – a time when the spine of fabulous
team was virtually weak and unable to withstand the slightest of
pressure.
It has been four months since that game was
played at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium. Kotoko has seen
tremendous changes and improvement which give supporters of the
club a lot of confidence and hope that their team can overturn
the tables in tomorrow's cliffhanger.
New Edubease FC will however not come as an
easy prey for Asante Kotoko to consume particularly when the
battle for three points and prestige
is right at their backyard.
Aside Asante Kotoko's burning desire to avenge the
painful 2-1 home defeat inflicted
on them by New Edubease, the game is dicey for some other
reasons. Kotoko’s Serbian trainer, Bogdan Korak has to win the
game to fortify supporters’
confidence in him.
Likewise, the team needs victory to lift the
morale of their teeming supporters in subsequent matches – two
of which are potential crackers both in Kumasi and Accra.
Kotoko is at the sixth positioned on the
league log with 27 points, and are two points behind the
fourth-placed New Edubease FC.
Following their fine training sessions over
the weekend , it is refreshing to note that Coach Bogdan Korak
and his charges fully understand the arduous task ahead of them
in Bekwai on Wednesday.
The coach in a brief interview on Sunday
morning said that apart from the thigh injury to one of his
trusted strikers, Ahmed Toure, all is well with his team.
He hopes to count on the strong 18-man squad
that are in camp to chalk desired result in Bekwai.
The Kotoko technical handler however
declined to give names of the players who have pitched camp at a
location in Kumasi.
If Sunday’s trial match against the reserve
side, which ended 2-1 in the favor of the senior side is
anything reliable, it is possible then, that, the starting
line-up will have a chunk of the high-performing players in the
team.
Isaac Amoako, Yaw Frimpong, Sabato Mohammed,
Ohene Brenya, Awal Mohammed, Michael Akuffu, Afranie Yeboah,
Stephen Oduro, Nii Adjei, Frank Boateng, Nathaniel Asamoah, Alex
Asamoah, Nafiu Idrissu and Fatawu Mohammed are all in the right
condition to be picked for selection into the starting line-up.
Although a midweek clash, a number of people
from Kumasi, the Bekwai Township and its environs are expected
to throng the Park to catch a glimpse of the big duel.
Security therefore has to be tight to ensure
the safety of spectators and property at the Park.
The Glo Premier League went on break in
January to allow the home based Black Stars participate in the
African Nations Championship in Sudan. The failed attempt by the
home based Black Stars to be impressive notwithstanding, players
who represented the country have settled at their respective
teams and are poised for league action.
