Kotoko would be unbeatable-Kwadwo Poku

Correspondent: Thomas Boakye-Agyeman, Oseikrom

17th August 2007

Comeback kid Kwadwo Poku Mahala who retraced his roots back to Kumasi Asante Kotoko says he cannot wait for the Premier league to kick off. The player told the Kotoko Express that he have an unfinished business to complete in Kotoko, explaining that his departure from the club some seasons back left a bitter chapter about him especially from Kotoko supporters.

 He therefore believes it is time to give back to Kotoko what they invested in him sometime ago.

It will be recalled that Kwadwo Poku, Abass Inusah, Mohammed Hamza and Godwin Ablordey, the then captain of Asante Kotoko all followed Hebert Mensah to King Faisal after he was removed from office by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.Poku later left for Denmark where he has been playing until recently when he decided to re-launch his career with Kotoko.

The player trained for the first time with Kotoko on Tuesday after the clubs training on Monday was rained off. He looked fit and businesslike on the field, doing his known fast runs near the touchlines. The player told the Kotoko Express that he is very happy to have met most of his colleagues he played with while in the Kotoko Youth team and the senior team prior to the 2003 season.

It will be recalled that that the likes Eric Nii Baah,Prince Anokye,Michael Fosu Appiah, Osei Kwame,William Thompson, Francis Akwaffu were all mates of Poku in the Kotoko Youth team.

NanaArhin Duah,Daniel Acquah, Godfred Yeboah and Stephen Oduro are all mates of the player and it is this reality that makes the player so hopeful.

“Though there have been some dramatic changes as I have seen several new faces here at training, its not that worrying as close to fifteen of the players now have been my colleagues at Kotoko before. For the new ones, since we are all Kotoko players and will be training daily, I will learn from them and teach them my style also. I hope we get good partnership before the league starts. I am not aware of when the league gets underway but from what I have observed from training, it will be very difficult to beat Kotoko in the league”, Poku said.

Asked whether the presence of huge talents at Kotoko would not be an impediment to him getting regular selection, Poku replied that competition is good for team building but he will fight for his place while the rest does the same but his concern will be how to bang in the goals in conjunction with whoever is selected to be his partner.

“I watched the matches involving the Sudan rebels and the German burgers and I must say it gave me an idea of the competition ahead. The presence of experienced players like Kuffour, Arhin Duah and my good friend Oduro who is in top form will always be complimented by the hard work of the rest of us to get Kotoko victory in our matches”, he said.

In a related development, Murtalla Mohammed, the tall lanky defender who left for Tunisia where he trained with Etoile du Sahel has also started training with Asante Kotoko at the Ridge Park. He returned last week from Tunisia and though the Tunisian club are said to be preparing to start negotiations for his possible transfer, the player is not in the mood to be left out of the final thirty five players of Kotoko next season, should the deal fail.

The Kotoko Express learnt at the time of going to press that the list is with Management which is expected to approve it before being made public. Coach Bashir Hayford told the Kotoko Express during training on Wednesday that the list will definitely come out, possibly next week. He revealed that Kotoko will honour two friendlies with Krofrom Football Club, a first division side in Kumasi before playing the Black Meteors in two weeks time at the El Wak Sports Stadium. That match, with a yet to be approved match will climax Kotoko’s pres-season training, according to Bashir Hayford.