Ahead of Sunday’s blockbuster encounter between Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak in the Ghana Premier League (GPL) Match Week 31 fixture at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Asante Kotoko revered legend Stephen Oduro has urged the club not to accept any black magic or ‘juju’ that may be given to the team by any supporters wing of the club, nor attempt to rely on black magic as a means to defeat Accra Hearts of Oak.
The legendary midfielder, who spent a total of 16 years at Asante Kotoko, is highly revered as one of the most important legends the Kumasi-based club has produced in recent years. Oduro, having earlier played for Real Tamale United after beginning his career with Cornerstones Babies, finally left Asante Kotoko at the end of the 2016/2017 football season since joining the club in 2000, retiring from football at the age of 33.
The iconic former number 4 shirt man has been narrating how the use of black magic [juju] by Asante Kotoko over the years, especially during his days with the club, backfired and ended up costing the Porcupines important matches against their bitterest rivals, Accra Hearts of Oak.
According to Oduro, Accra Hearts of Oak are more adept at consulting the oracle and using superstitious means to win a football match than Asante Kotoko, and that any time the Porcupines tried it on the Phobians, they ended up losing the match.
“Hearts of Oak is a team that if you rely on black magic to play against them, you will lose,” Oduro told ghanasportspage.com in an exclusive interview. “So I will plead with the players [of Asante Kotoko] that for this match they should all go down on their knees and pray, or all of them should meet in camp and have a devotion and fellowship [with God] every morning or before they go to bed. They should rely on God and ask for grace from God,” he advised.
Adding to his advice, Oduro cautioned the Kotoko players not to fall for any superstitious suggestions that may come from any club official or leadership of the supporters wing.
He said, this is the time some officials may bring superstitious things to the players as a means to beat Hearts of Oak, but it must be noted that any time Asante Kotoko resorted to the use of superstitions or black magic to face the Phobians, they ended up losers instead.
“When it comes to that time [of playing against Hearts of Oak], that is when you will see some officials of the club and some Circles [the supporters wing of the club] leaders coming to give this or that to the players, and that is where you see players arriving on the pitch looking very heavy. You can see that you are not yourself,” he outlined.
Stephen Oduro, reflecting on his time playing for Asante Kotoko, recounted one particular occasion when the players were given certain objects to be bound around their wrists, believed to be black magic to help them beat Hearts of Oak. However, these objects had the opposite effect until they removed them, which led to their eventual 3-1 victory against Hearts of Oak in Kumasi.
“There was a time in a match against Hearts, before we arrived on the pitch they had given us some objects which we bound around our wrists. When we started the game, within 10 to 20 minutes, Hearts dominated to the extent that even the players couldn’t run on the pitch. So there was a command that we remove the things from our wrists, and everyone of us removed theirs.
“We beat Hearts 3-1 in Kumasi. We were left with one goal to revenge that 4-0 they once beat us with. We were even leading them 3-0 until the dying embers when we all went attacking, including our defenders, in search for that one goal [to equal the 4-0] then they got a counter attack to score a consolation to end the game 3-1.
“Truly, when we removed those things we became free and were able to even take a 3-0 lead against Hearts of Oak. I used that as an example,” Oduro narrated.
The America-based Asante Kotoko legend made a passionate appeal to coach Prosper Narteh Ogum to stand his ground and resist any superstitious suggestions that may come from any official, urging the team to solely rely on God going into the match against Hearts of Oak.
“If I were in Ghana I would have gone to the camp to share that experience with the players or tell the coach to stand his ground and resist anything anybody may bring to the team as a catalyst to go and play the match. Their God on whom they had relied to play all their previous matches for which they lie 10th on the league log, they should use that same God,” he appealed.
Asante Kotoko will take on Accra Hearts of Oak at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in the GPL Match Week 31 encounter at 3:00 pm on Sunday, May 26, 2024.
