Sunday’s MTN FA Cup final: Revenge or repeat?

MTN FA Cup title holders, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, have declared ‘war’ on Medeama in Sunday’s final, saying the trophy means ‘everything to the club’ after losing the league title.

With a huge burden on their heads to appease their disappointed fans, Kotoko now have to win the FA Cup to win to guarantee them qualification to the CAF Confederation Cup competition.

‘’We need the trophy for three things: first to regain the confidence of our supporters, compete in Africa and to boost the confidence of our players one more time,” Opoku Nti, General Manager of Kotoko, told the Graphic Sports.

“We don’t know when the Elite Cup will be played, so for us, the FA Cup means everything to us. The league title is gone but we have the FA Cup to grab’, he emphasised.

The seriousness which the Porcupine Warriors attach to winning Sunday’s game at the Essipon Stadium is evidenced in the club’s decision to storm Sekondi today with bus loads of supporters.

With the idea of winning his first major title on his mind, Coach David Duncan has been strategic ahead of the big game and has consigned himself to the pitch to plot a successful title defence against their highly-determined opponents.

Conversely, Medeama, the 2013 champions, are currently lying 10th on the league table as against Kotoko’s third position, but would not come cheap since the FA Cup is a different ball game altogether.

The Tarkwa-based club is unfazed about their underdog status as they hope to capitalise on their 2013 FA Cup final triumph to lift their second major silverware.

“We know we are on top because the last time we met, we beat Kotoko 1-0. And we know on Sunday, victory will be ours,” the President of Medeama, Mr Moses Armah, said.

Sunday’s contest will be a battle between experience against youthful exuberance as a bunch of hungry Medeama youngsters such as Akwasi Donsu, Benjamin Bature, Jacob Apau and Moses Sarpong contend with Kotoko’s tested players such as Michael Akuffo, Jordan Opoku, Abeiku Ainooson, Frank Sarfo Gyamfi, Obed Owusu, among others.

Interestingly, the two teams drew 1-1 in their first round league clash in Kumasi, while battling to a barren draw in the return fixture at Tarkwa, making Sunday’s duel a who-is-who affair.

Meanwhile, an FA Cup Committee delegation, led by Kwaku Twum Barima and Joseph Hendricks, Co-ordinator of the Trophy Tour and Ambassador for the FA, presented the trophy to the sponsors ahead of the match.

The trophy was received by the General Manager of MTN in charge of the Northern Business Districts, James Basintale, to be officially handed over to the winner on Sunday.