Asante Kotoko lift FA cup with
golden-goal victory
Hearts fans want Harry Zakkour to
continue in office
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 December 2001 - Kumasi
Asante Kotoko appeased their faithful supporters when they beat city rival,
King Faisal 1-0 at the Accra Sports Stadium in the finals of this year’s
edition of the FA knockout competition.
The lone goal came in nine minutes into extra
time from the boot of substitute Kwaku Duah who swept the ball into the net
from a goalmouth melee after a corner kick taken by Stephen Oduro.
As referee Alex Quartey rushed into the net and
picked the ball to signify the end of the match about a quarter of the
spectators, mostly dressed in the red and white colours of Kotoko, rushed onto
the field in ecstasy.
The match kicked off on a very fast not after
Mr Edward Osei Kwaku, Minister of Youth and Sports had inspected the teams.
Though Kotoko won the first corner kick, they soon lost control to Faisal who
throttled hard, looking for the first goal.
In the 5th minute, skipper Joe Agyemang Snr.
came close but he was halted by Isaac Owusu in his tracks. Goalkeeper Osei
Boateng sprawled in the 11th minute to deny Issah Debrah an opportunity to
score.
From the 15th minute, it was King Faisal all
the way as they had long spells of possession with Ben Wilson, Issah Debrah and
Kwabena Poku drawing rings round the Kotoko players.
Action swung to the other side in the 28th
minute when Joe Okyere set up Oduro but the petit attacker failed to make hay
to keep Faisal slightly on top till the break.
In the second half, Alhaji Grunsah's boys
maintained their dominance but remained blunt in attack as substitute Frank
Osei who came in for Joe Agyemang Jnr. led a long siege on the Kotoko
territory. Anytime Kotoko broke into the Faisal area, veteran Emmanuel Ampiah
mobilised Dada Kwadwo, Issah Yahaya and Thompson Sanu to ward off their attack.
In the 65th minute the best chance of the game
fell to Joe Agyemang Snr. and he powered a header which clearly beat Keeper
Osei Boateng but it was surprisingly redirected by teammate Wilson with another
header off target.
With 15 minutes remaining, the tide changed in
favour of Kotoko as they took control of the midfield with Oduro doing great
runs to create chances. Faisal changed Ampiah, who was limping with Seth Opoku
and this seemed to give the Kotoko attackers the leeway they needed to test
keeper Sam Okyere who proved his mettle with some good saves.
During extra time, Faisal had the first chance
to end it but Frank Osei failed to slip the ball to Kwabena Opoku who had a
yawing net in front of him and allowed the Kotoko defence line to recover and
dispossess him of the ball.
Five minutes into the 'sudden death' period,
Frank Osei and Ben Wilson wove through the Kotoko defence but the final
delivery was poor.
Left off the hook, Kotoko’s Kwaku Duah taught
Faisal a bitter lesson when he powered home from close range to win the day for
the porcupines who now book their first Africa berth in four years.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 December 2001 - Harry
Zakkour’s tenure as Chief Executive of Accra Hearts of Oak expires at the end
of this month. Harry’s tenure ended last season but was extended for one year
by the Board of Directors.
It is unclear who the board has in mind to take
over from Harry with the Phobian boasting of such vacuum-filling academicians
as Fiifi Forson, Kojo Twum-Boafo or marketing guru, Frank Appiah.
Nothing is clear. However, a cross-section of
Hearts fans have expressed confidence in Harry and his team and prayed the
club’s board to extend his term, according to the Africa Sports, an Accra
Sports bi-weekly.
Harry, this year raised the standards by
steering Hearts to its unprecedented fifth consecutive league title. The title
secures the club another CAF Champions League campaign in 2002
GRi…/