Thursday, June 11, 2009

KOTOKO TO MISS INKOOM, HARRISON (PAGE 71)

KUMASI Asante Kotoko will miss Samuel Inkoom, while a question mark hangs over the availability of Harrison Afful in Sunday’s crucial Glo premier league match against archrivals Hearts of Oak at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra.
Inkoom’s International Transfer Certificate (ITC) which would enable him to play for his new club in Switzerland was expected to be released yesterday as per the agreement between the parties.
With regards to Afful, he is billed to travel with the Black Stars on Saturday to Kenya en route to Khartoum for next week’s World Cup match against the Sudanese national team.
The two players have been pillars at the team’s rear and their absence could have a negative effect on the output of Kotoko on Sunday.
Inkoom at the right side of defence and Afful on the left side have been peerless and the coaches could find it difficult finding good replacements for them.
While Kotoko can do very little about Inkoom’s case under the existing circumstances, there is the possibility that their officials will ask for permission for Afful to play the Hearts match on Sunday before flying out to join the Black Stars team in Kenya.
Meanwhile, Asante Kotoko have intensified their preparations towards the match which they see as payback time.
At training, the players look battle-ready especially as their performance had improved tremendously since the appointment of coach Herbert Addo.
The reigning league champions suffered an unexpected 2-1 defeat to Hearts in Kumasi in the first round and have vowed to crush their opponents this time to appease their fans.
It will be a very tricky game as Hearts who are on top of the premier league have also vowed to repeat the dose.

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