'I almost had a heart attack after Hearts equalizer' – C.K. Akonnor

Charles Kwablan Akonnor, Head Coach of Asante Kotoko has revealed that, he almost felt a heart attack, after his side considered a late equaliser against arch-rivals Hearts of Oak in the Normalisation Committee Special Competition semi-final clash in Accra last Sunday.

The 45-year old disclosed after his side won 5-4 on penalties in their semi-final eliminator having conceded an added time equaliser.

Hearts of Oak got a late equalizer through a Christopher Bonney’s spot kick in the 94th minute after Abdul Fatawu Shafiu had opened the scoring for Kotoko in the early minutes of the game.

Hearts’ defender Mohammed Alhassan was the only player to miss his penalty in the first batch of takers with skipper Amos Frimpong converting the winning kick.

Akonnor revealed the horrific feeling he went through after conceding the late goal in a post-match interview.

"When they equalised I thought I had a heart attack because it was injury time and I thought my boys didn't deserve that. My team defended very well, the opponent mounted a lot of pressure and we were able to contain it. Penalties are always 50-50, but again we used experience. They (my team) have what it takes to win such matches and they did it, I'm proud of them," he said.