By: Jerome Otchere

Date: 18-07-11

Kumasi Asante Kotoko will on Sunday, July 24, 2011 play division one side, Nania FC in the MTN FA Cup final at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium.

The club’s trips to Accra in the 2010/2011 season have been exciting and somewhat disappointing too, with three wins and two defeats. So what fate awaits team Kotoko this time?  

Between September 2010 and July 2011, Kumasi Asante Kotoko has visited Accra five time and none of the club’s matches at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium within this period has been without excitement or any kind of emotional feeling. Results chalked by the team have been sweet and sour, glorious and inglorious and as the fabulous team makes another important trip to Accra, this weekend, one wonders what fate awaits them.

Kotoko’s treks to Accra this season started with Liberty Professionals on September 12, specifically match day two of the 2010/2011 Glo Premier League. The Porcupines thumped the scientific soccer lads 4-0 in a game that many had predicted to be uncompromising particularly when Asante Kotoko had lost embarrassingly their first league match in the season at home.

Under the tutelage of then Technical Manager, Ebo Mends – Kotoko was expected to have things tough against Liberty who in the previous season spanked them 3-0. However as things turned out, Kotoko run amok, dismantling the Liberty machine beyond repair! Coach Ebo Mends was hailed by the teeming fans for that spectacular show in the capital.

Media reviews and reportage were favourable to Kotoko but not when things took an unpleasant turn a few weeks later. A streak of shocking defeats and disappointments coupled with a loss in the epic encounter against Hearts of Oak in Kumasi in October necessitated Coach Ebo Mends’ resignation. The Porcupines however rediscovered their form in the second round of the season under Serbian Bogdan Korak, who led them to chalk a remarkable 2-0 win over Hearts in March.

That marked Kotoko’s second visit to Accra this season. As expected the journey back home was short and exciting because of the joy and thrills in beating bitterest rivals Accra Hearts of Oak in such convincing manner at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium. What is it that Kotoko supporters and the pro-Kotoko media did not say about that famous triumph? The players largely received the plaudits along with Coach Bogdan Korak and his technical team.

Management members were also not left out of the praise-singing. The duel against Hearts of Oak was truly one of the 30 Glo Premier League matches but it was not an ordinary encounter. No wonder a ‘Kotoko Victory Celebration T-Shirt’ was produced afterwards with the approval of management and later sold to supporters who happily bought that memorable paraphernalia.

Kotoko’s third visit to Accra was in May to face Mighty Jets in a Glo Premier League match. That game however did not end with smiles on the faces of Kotoko supporters. The team lost 0-2 to the then relegation threatened side. Amidst jeers and boos including wild allegations of match fixing, the supporters were angry with the team’s performance.

It was however all smiles again when a month later, the team returned to the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium for the fourth time, this time for a Glo Premier League play-off match against Medeama SC, the side they had beaten at Tarkwa barely a week before. Not many supporters and even pundits of the game accepted reasons for the play-off game.

The Premier League Board however insisted that as per the rules and regulations of the game, Kotoko and Medeama needed to play to determine the second and third placed team since they were at par on points and also when the head-to-head rule was applied. Kotoko confirmed their superiority over the Tarkwa based team winning the game 2-1.

The Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG’s) inability to meet Kotoko’s demands ahead of this year’s SWAG Cup match prompted the last minute cancellation of that game. But for that unforeseen development, the SWAG Cup match would have marked Kotoko’s sixth visit to Accra in the 2010/2011 season, their July 1, President Cup date with Berekum Chelsea, which they lost 6-7 on penalties becoming their seventh visit.

So what awaits the team as they now make their sixth visit to Accra for the prestigious MTN FA Cup final? Will the pendulum swing to the side of victory or defeat for Kumasi Asante Kotoko? So far it has been three victories and two losses for Kotoko in their five visits to Accra, meaning the record is relatively impressive. Coming against Nania FC, will Kotoko emerge triumphant?

I have no reason to believe otherwise. Coach Bogdan Korak and his charges have exhibited a reasonably good performance to convince me that they have what it takes to break Nania FC. Goalkeeper Isaac Amoako and Soulama Abdoulaye have both proven that they are the most reliable goalies in the team. I dare add that either of the two goalkeepers has sufficient experience to be in post for Sunday’s final.

In defence, Yaw Frimpong, Awal Mohammed, John Kuffour or Ohene Brenya combined are capable of thwarting efforts of the deadliest attack on our local football scene. Kotoko’s left back appears to be problematic but Prince Anokye or Sabato Mohammed – either of them has the experience and of course the strength to battle any opponent in that department of the game.

Daniel Nii Adjei, Michael Akuffu, Frank Boateng and Fatawu Mohammed’s teamwork in midfield has mostly been admirable. The quartet can be a nightmare for any opponent. No matter the strength of Nania FC’s in midfield they will have to perform well above expectation to outplay Kotoko there. Ahmed Toure paired with either Nathaniel Asamoah or Alex Asamoah in attack despite their notable flaws still have venom to disintegrate any defence one can think of here.

The Kotoko substitute bench also offers a lot of hope. Stephen Oduro, Afranie Yeboah, Samed Oppong and all others who will make the final 18-man squad for the game will not disappoint.  Added to that is the considerably good, tactical and technical wisdom of Coach Bogdan Korak and his assistant Prince Acheampong alias Sabuto. The two coaches do not forget will also draw a lot of knowledge from new Coach Maxwell Konadu and Technical Director, Malik Jabir.

The danger inherent in Nania FC is real nevertheless. Admittedly, the threat Nania FC can pose, knowing their background has not been comprehensively analysed in this article. However, I conclude that it will take far more than an extraordinary show from Abedi Ayew Pele’s team to win Sunday’s MTN FA Cup final against Kumasi Asante Kotoko in Accra.