Kotoko set to maintain momentum as Hearts seek to make amends

Accra, Aug 10, GNA 96 Kumasi Asante Kotoko will go into this weekend's Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Champions League with a single purpose 96 to maintain their momentum in the competition by winning their second game.

Kotoko who started the competition on a poor note after losing the first game against JS Kabylie of Algeria, came back strongly to win their second match against CS Sfaxien of Tunisia and this they are determined to repeat when they come up against Egyptian giants, El-Ahly on Sunday at the Len Clay Stadium at Obuasi.

Making their first appearance in the competition, a win for the =91Fabulous' lads will enhance their chances of advancing to the next stage of the competition.

With the exception of Shilla Illiasu who is on trials with English side, Arsenals, Kotoko for the second time seem to have almost all their players in place to do battle and will derive a lot of strength from them in search of the much needed victory over the Egyptians. Kotoko will certainly have a replacement in the likes of Dan Acquah and Samuel Addo for Illiasu, who has for the past few months assumed an influential role in the defensive set up of Kotoko.

In attack, coach Emmanuel Kwesi Afranie will be relying on the experience of Nana Arhin Duah, Edmund Owusu Ansah, Ahmed Toure, George Yamoah and a few others to break through the rear guard of the Egyptian champions.

They will however be facing a stiff opposition from the Egyptians, who until their first loss in the competition against the Tunisians have maintained an unbeaten run for a long time.

The Egyptians, just like Kotoko are also in dire need for a win to keep their championship aspirations on course and will be out to cause problems for the Ghanaians, but this threat coach Afranie has indicated his readiness to deal with efficiently and effectively. Accra Hearts Oak on the other hand could be said to be in a desperate position after losing two of their games in a row, which placed them at the bottom of the Zone B of the table.

The Phobians are once again in the enemy's territory in search of redemption to keep their dreams of advancing to the next level of the competition on course, as they clash with Orlando Pirates of South Africa.

Even though the Phobians are on record to have won a game against Santos, another South African side in the Confederations Cup competition in 2004, their present situation makes it difficult for book makers to make a case for them in the game against the Pirates.

As the bottom club in Zone B, the Phobians could be described as the weakest side and hardly stand any chance of picking the three points at stake.

The only avenue they could draw strength from however is their =91Never Say Die' spirit which has seen them survive similar difficult situations.

The game, from all indications comes with a lot of challenges for the Phobians as a defeat will end their championship dreams and also prove that the two assistant's Ato Hammond and Eddie Ansah are also not capable of running the technical affairs of the Club after the dismissal of coach Francis Oti-Akenten. The outcome of the game therefore comes with so much at stake for both the playing body and the technical team. Pirates, for obvious reasons will not come as cheap customers because they are yet to win a game in the competition having shared points with Asec Mimosas and Enyimba International of cote D' ivoire and Nigeria respectively. For these reasons, the Phobians will have to go the extra mile if they are to come home with the needed points. 10 Aug. 06