|
 SWAG Cup Match will prepare Us-Osei Kuffour
By: David Owusu-Mensah
Posted: 17th April 2008
For Captain Emmanuel Osei Kuffour, the SWAG Cup match against Ashgold on Sunday is the right test Kotoko will need ahead of their encounter with Dolphins FC in the 1/8th stage of the CAF Confederation Cup Competition.
“General” as he is affectionately called, believes the experience acquired by the miners over the last couple of seasons in Africa would be of immense benefit to Kotoko in her quest to clinch Africa glory, because the Obuasi lads would show character by providing a tougher opposition for Kotoko on the match day.
Speaking exclusively to Kotoko Express via mobile telephony, the Skipper of the Fabulous Boys is confident Kotoko will beat Ashgold to the SWAG Cup and will in effect prepare themselves adequately towards the match with Dolphins in distant Calabar, Nigeria.
“For the past week, we have been making ourselves ready for the Dolphins match and I think the game against Ashgold has come just in time to get us even more set for the important duel.” He emphasized.
The Obuasi lads after shamefully owing out of the prestigious CAF Champions League competition would try to deploy every tactic under the sun to upstage the Reds at the Baba Yara Stadium but the veteran skipper is cocksure Kotoko would turn the tide in their favor.
“Ashgold has a very good team but with our enormous experience both locally and in Africa, I believe we can carry the day, though I can not make any predictions for now.” He intimated.
Ashgold remains the only team with the honor to have beaten Kotoko in the Onetouch Premier League this season and will definitely be counting on the fortunes that guided them to the victory at the Berekum Coronation Park.
General Osei Kuffour and his charges are however aware of this previous setback and will be looking forward to wipe out the deficit with determination, hard work and discipline as their trump card.
Kuffour gave the miners the credit of having won in Berekum but was quick to add that, the pitch at the venue was very awful even though he was out of action for that particular match he observed how his colleagues suffered to control the ball on the field.
“No one can take anything away from Ashgold for winning the match at Berekum since they had to serve a ban out of Obuasi. We were all witnesses to how terrible the field at Berekum looked which unfortunately made us lose focus for them to score but I believe Sunday will be our time to triumph over them at the well-trimmed pitch of the Baba Yara Stadium”.
The Skipper having been a former player of the Aboakeseε lads has seen it all in encounters like this and he is expected to lead the Kotoko attack to another resounding victory on a famous occasion like the SWAG Nyemetei Cup on Sunday.
According to him, playing against his ex-team does not mean anything to him rather than putting up a fantastic performance to enable his current side became victorious on a good day of football.
“I hardly think about doing something special when playing against any team I have had stints with because I know with absolute contribution from each one of the player body we can carry the day at any level and this is what I am expecting on Sunday”. He reiterated.
The game on Sunday will be the Veteran Skipper’s first match against his previous club since joining Kotoko early in January last year.
Emmanuel Osei Kuffour began playing premier league football with Mysterious Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs before joining Hearts of Oak where he chalked many laurels as player and later played two seasons for Ashgold after which he crossed carpet to the camp of the Porcupine Warriors.
Since joining Kotoko, he has the Onetouch top 4 trophy to his credit and is expected to lead his colleagues to add the SWAG Nyametei Cup to the number of trophies he hopes to achieve with Kotoko.
|
