The former CEO of Asante Kotoko believes the club ae yet to recover from their defeat to Accra Hearts of Oak.
The club legend claims the post-match impact of losing to big rivals Hearts of Oak has hit the Porcupine Warriors, who have labored through games since losing to Hearts of Oak.
Daniel Afriyie’s 64th-minute strike ensured the Phobians posted a 1-0 win over the Kumas-based club to brighten their chances of winning the 2020/21 Ghana Premier League.
Since then Kotoko has struggled for form; drawing at home to relegation-threatened King Faisal while riding their luck to eliminate lower-tier side Asokwa Deportivo from the FA Cup.
Speaking on the club’s recent performances in an interview with Silver FM, the former Black Stars striker noted that, the club has been dealt a huge psychological blow following the loss to Hearts.
He linked it to his playing days for the Porcupine Warriors and how they overcame such a situation.
“Whichever team loses when Asante Kotoko meets Hearts of Oak, normally suffers a hangover. This is because they put their all into that Hearts vs Kotoko match. So if they lose, it totally discourages them and cause them to be disinterested in subsequent games, ” Opoku Nti said.
“It takes quite some time before full recovery is made. Most times recovering from such experiences depends heavily on the players.
“During my time in 1983, we lost 4-3 to Hearts of Oak, but in our next match which was in Africa, we won 3-0 to qualify.
“So there are after effects in Kotoko vs Hearts matches and whoever loses suffers from hangover,” Opoku Nti concluded.
