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Soccer News of Thursday, 21 March 2002

Source: gna

Oti Akenten calls for good officiating

Mr Francis Oti-Akenten, Coach of Obuasi Goldfields, has said that, his team would scale through to the next stage of the CAF competition if they are given fair officiating in the second leg in Guinea. Speaking to GNA Sports, he said, his boys have trained well for the second leg and are capable of beating their opponent when the game is devoid of intimidation from the match officials.

Mr Oti-Akenten said the Guineans had a very good officiating in the first leg at Obuasi Len Clay Stadium, adding that, should they also have the same in the second leg nothing can deny them of victory. He said the players are in good shape for the match and have vowed not to repeat the mistakes of the first leg after watching the video clip of the match.

Mr Oti-Akenten said inexperience and complacency were the cause of their unimpressive performance in the first leg since most of the players were just graduating from their Soccer Academy. On his plans for the future, the coach said his primary concern is to build a formidable team by blending the old guards with the newly graduated players from the academy for the next football season.

He said, the club might not do so well in this year's league because most of the players would be having their first taste of the premier league but expressed the hope that, they would be a strong force in the 2003 league season. Obuasi Goldfields are scheduled to play Satellite Club of Guinea in the second leg of the Confederation of African Football competition in Guinea on Sunday, March 24.