Players of Kumasi Asante Kotoko will be laughing all the way to the bank following their 1-0 victory over arch-rivals Accra Hearts of Oak at the Accra Sports Stadium last Sunday.
A former director of Kotoko, Kennedy Agyepong, made true his pre-match promise of a special winning bonus for Kotoko by rewarding the victorious players with GH¢7,000 and $1,000 for the hard-fought win which put the Porcupine Warriors on top of the Premier League table with an unbeaten record in the competition.
Mr Agyepong, CEO and chairman of the Kenpong Group of Companies, said he was particularly impressed with the display by the defending champions and challenged them to maintain the winning form and spirit in the league.
Nicknamed Cappuccino, Mr Agyepong told the Daily Graphic that the winning mentality and form displayed by the players gave him great confidence that head coach Mas-Ud Dramani’s pre-season preparation was beginning to pay dividends and was hopeful the coach would lead the club to another league title and possibly success in the CAF Champions League.
Looking beyond the Premier League, the diehard Kotoko fan said the club’s long and elusive search for another continental glory was long overdue and it was about time for all stakeholders to put their shoulders to the wheel for an all-out assault on the CAF Champions League this year.
He observed that the return of Opoku Nti — the hero of Kotoko’s last African Cup victory three decades ago — as Kotoko’s acting CEO, was perhaps an act of providence to eventually break that hoodoo.
“In 1983, it was Opoku Nti whose magical touch earned Kotoko victory in the African Cup final and coincidentally he is the man running affairs now, so I hope that with the support of all Kotoko faithful, he would lead the club to continental glory which is long overdue,” observed the Kenpong boss.
