Kumasi Asante Kotoko won the inaugural J. A Kuffour cup after beating Nsoatreman FC 2-1 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on Sunday, February 18th, 2024.
The J. A. Kuffour Cup was a match organized by the JAK Foundation to honor the legacy of former Ghana President John Agyekum Kuffour, who served two terms in office dating back from 2000 to 2008, and as part of activities marking the former President’s 85th birthday anniversary, Kotoko squared off against Nsoatreman.
The match lasted until the 25th minute when referee Abdul Latif found out that the yellow strips worn by the two teams were similar and the game was stopped for Asante Kotoko to change into their white kit to enhance easy identification.
The match resumed and it continued from where it was halted. Both teams had fair opportunities to open the scoring but fell flat with their attempts.
The match almost appeared to end in a goalless first half till Abdul Rahman broke the deadlock to score the first goal in the final for Nsoatreman, giving them the lead at the dying embers of the half.
The second half began with Asante Kokoto, who were down by a goal to nil, going all out in search of an equalizer.
Their hard work however paid off as their Ugandan striker, Steven Mukwala leveled the game in the 57th minute to give the Porcupine Warriors a glimmer of hope.
Nsotreman had a golden opportunity to go up again in the final when they were awarded a penalty, but the attempt to convert from 12 yards by Manaf Umar was saved by Frederick Asare.
In the 67th minute of the game, Kototo snatched the win with a goal from Peter Amidu who picked up an explicit pass from Richmond Lamptey to score the winner, leaving Nsoatreman faithful’s dejected in the process.
Asante Kotoko would hope to leverage on the cup win against Nsoatreman to boost their confidence in their quest to win a record-extending 25th GPL title, when the league resumes over the weekend.
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Story by: Rabbi Adu Agyei|univers.ug.edu.gh
