Annan hails Fabin, Patron for good show

Kumasi Asante Kotoko’s number one shot-stopper, Felix Annan, has attributed the club’s impressive 1-1 away draw with WAFA at Sogakope last Sunday to the efforts of Coach Paa Kwesi Fabin and his assistant, Akakpo Patron, who has in-depth knowledge of the tactics of the academy side, which was his former club.

Kotoko drew level just seven minutes through a deflection from Yakubu Mohammed who connected a shot from Jordan Opoku, followed by goalkeeper Annan’s heroics which denied the homesters some scoring opportunities till referee Charles Bulu ended the match.

Some football pundits had opined that Annan made a strong statement early in the season, not only with the performance against WAFA, but also in the CAF Confederation Cup qualifier against CARA Club of Brazzaville, where he saved three penalties over two legs, and also converted a penalty kick to underline his growth as a player.

However, speaking to the Graphic Sports yesterday, Annan insisted that Kotoko's technical handlers deserved commendation for the team's excellent performance against WAFA, expressing confidence in them to guide the team to make the biggest impression this season.

"For the past three seasons, we have not been able to beat WAFA at Sogakope but we were able to pick a point last Sunday and I think our coaches deserve praise, especially Coach Akakpo Patron, because he was their former coach so he knew a lot about them and that knowledge helped us a lot," he said.

The 23-year-old player continued: "We were also determined to win because we wanted to start the season on a good note and we also wanted to make up for the disappointment of the CAF Confederation Cup exit."

Regarding their next fixture against Inter Allies he said: "We know it will not be easy because Inter Allies have a strong team and they also have a good coach in the person of Kenichi Yatsuhashi, but this year we are really working to win this league so we will fight hard to record our first win at home," he assured.