Kumasi Asante Kotoko has been declared winners in their MTN quarter-finals FA cup match against Obuasi Ashgold, and will meet city rivals, King Faisal, at the semi-final stage of the competition at the Baba Yara Sports stadium in Kumasi.
The official date of the Kotoko-King Faisal confrontation is yet to be communicated to the two teams, but that notwithstanding, Kotoko have plunged into serious preparations with the view to overpowering King Faisal in the epic match.
The acting Chief Executive of Kotoko, Mr Opoku Nti, told the Daily Graphic that his side were more determined to scale the Faisal hurdle and go on to win the FA Cup after two previous losses in the final in the last three years.
“We now have a walkover, and will play King Faisal in Kumasi at the semi-final stage of the competition. We are more determined than ever to win both the MTN FA Cup and the Premier League trophies for the first time. That is why we are playing series of friendly matches to put the boys in good shape,” he declared.
He said Kotoko had already played against Berekum Chelsea in a friendly match in Kumasi and were planning to play them again, but some events in Kumasi have stalled that return match.
He was confident Kotoko would hit top form before playing New Edubiase United when the First Capital Plus Premier League resumes on May 21. He gave an assurance that the Porcupine warriors would win the rest of the league matches.
Expressing concern over the chain of defeats that had hit the team in recent times, the Kotoko boss said such occurences occasionally happened to teams that had taken a big lead and allowed complacency to get into their games.
“It happened to Bayern Munich after they won the Bundesliga, but we are now motivating the players to win our match against New Edubiase to make our defence of the league title a certainty,” he noted.
