"Hunger For First Team Place Is Secret To Kotoko"s OffseasonTriumphs"- Michael Osei

Assistant coach of Asante Kotoko has revealed that the team’s triumphs in the offseason is due to the hunger of the playing body to cement their first team positions ahead of the new league season.

Kotoko has so far won three trophies in the offseason. They beat League champions Ashantigold to lift the SWAG Cup, then went on to beat the 1982 Black Stars in a commemorative match played at the Accra sports stadium.

Again, they defeated Serbian side, FK Jagodina to win the Club’s 80th-Anniversary match to lift the giant trophy as stake. The icing on the cake was their winning of the G-6 Invitational Tournament played at the Essipong stadium from the 7th-10th January 2016.

“I am not surprised with the performance of the players. Everyone is fighting for a place in the first team and want to cement it before the league starts.”

“If you look at our matches, we have been rotating the team because we are still looking to get a formidable squad, but happily for us, the players are making our work difficult because they are all playing well, and that excites me as a coach”, Michael Osei told footballcrusader.com.

“As we all saw in the G-6 no matter which player we put in a game, everyone plays well and that is something positive we are going to build on”, he added.

"Hunger For First Team Place Is Secret To Kotoko"s OffseasonTriumphs"- Michael Osei

Coach David Duncan Draws Positives From FK Jagodina Match

Head coach of Asante Kotoko David Duncan is quite content with the output of his team in their 5-0 win over FK Jagodina on Sunday.

The ‘Porcupine Warriors’ cut the Serbian side to size at the Baba Yara stadium in their 80th-anniversary commemorative match.

Despite not having their full squad, FK Jagodina gave were a good enough opposition for Kotoko, according to their head coach David Duncan.

“This is not the opposition we expected to have. We were anticipating a very fierce battle against FK Jagodina, but in all I would say I am content with the performance of my team in the game”, Coach Duncan mentioned.

“This was an international friendly but we took it seriously and the fans are happy that we won the first trophy of the year and that is a good motivation for the team and the players.”

“We scored three goals in the first half and in the second found it very difficult to score because they ‘parked the bus’ but at the end of the day got two more.”

Coach David Duncan Draws Positives From FK Jagodina Match

Photos: Asante Kotoko Seal $150,000 Three-Year Kit Sponsorship Deal With Mafro Sport

Asante Kotoko has announced a three-year deal with kit manufacturers Mafro Sport at a colourful ceremony held in Kumasi on Saturday afternoon.

The three-year deal is worth $150,000 will see Kotoko players and technical team professionally sponsored by Mafro Sport for the next three years.

The jerseys come in two forms, one for home games and the other for away games.

Typical of Kotoko’s colours, the home jersey is all red with white linings at the edge of both the shirt and shorts.

The away jersey is however, different, but also signifies the colour of the emblem of the Club, yellow and black. The shirt is yellow with black linings at the edge and collar, whilst the pant is pure black with yellow trimmings at the edge of it.

Apart from the kits that Kotoko will receive for the next three years, Mafro Sport will also be making an annual payment of $50,000 to the club.

The playing body will don the new Macro branded jerseys come Sunday at the Baba Yara stadium when the team play as host to Serbian side FK Jagodina in the Club’s 80th-anniversary commemoration match.

Present at the ceremony was captain of the team, Amos Frimpong and Ohene Brenya. Others included the CEO of Kotoko Samuel Opoku Nti and the Club’s Accra Rep. Edmund Ackah.

Below are some samples of the jerseys Asante Kotoko will be donning in the coming season.

Kotoko captains Ohene Brenya and Amos Frimpong were present at the ceremony to model the new kits.

CEO of Kotoko Opoku Nti and an official of Mafro Sports presenting the home jersey to all present at the ceremony.

Sample of the Asante Kotoko new away jersey

Sample of the Asante Kotoko new home jersey

Photos: Asante Kotoko Seal $150,000 Three-Year Kit Sponsorship Deal With Mafro Sport

Asante Kotoko"s Opponents FK Jagodina To Arrive In Ghana On Saturday

Organisers of Asante Kotoko’s the 80th-anniversary Cup Match have told the Club’s official website that, FK Jagodina will arrive in Ghana on Saturday, January 2, 2016.

Initially, the FK Jagodina team were originally scheduled to arrive in Ghana today Friday 1st January 2016, but opted for Saturday, a day before the match.

“They are coming on Saturday. I can confirm that” the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pacific Football Ghana Limited, Eric Oppong-Yeboah said in an interview on New Year’s Eve.

The official website of Jagodina FK, www.fkjagodina.org.rs in confirmation of their visit wrote:

“Jagodina [will be in the city of Kumasi] for the first time in its history to play an international friendly match on the African continent… Specifically, Jagodina will be the guests at the celebration of the 80th birthday of the famous football club from Ghana”.

The game comes off at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium. Kickoff is at 5:30pm.

Pacific Football Ghana Limited have for months now been working hard to get the friendly international game played and are leaving nothing to chance to ensure that the match, which has seen several postponements since September 2015 is eventually honoured.

Asante Kotoko"s Opponents FK Jagodina To Arrive In Ghana On Saturday

FK Jagodina Advance Team Leave For Accra

A five-member advance team of Serbian club, FK Jagodina has left Belgrade to Istanbul enroute to Accra this evening.

The entire Jagodina team will however come on Saturday, Asantekotokosc.com understands.

They are coming as Kotoko’s opponent in the 80th anniversary cup match.

Eric Oppong-Yeboah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pacific Football Ghana Limited who are organizing the game said in an interview that, the advance team will touch down at the Kotoka International Airport on board a Turkish Airline at 7:20pm.

“The advance party has already left Belgrade for Istanbul, Turkey heading for Accra” he disclosed.  “They will be in this evening and the contingent itself are expected on Saturday” he added.

The game is on Sunday, January 3 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Kumasi.

Kickoff is 5:30pm.

FK Jagodina Advance Team Leave For Accra