Former captain of Hearts of Oak Yaw Amankwa Mireku is lamenting how the europhia that surrounded a Hearts of Oak-Asante Kotoko clash is no longer felt on the streets.
He said what was behind those crucial games is no more as there are no paraphernalia on the streets of Accra, for instance, a few days to such a crucial match.
The Phobians travel to Kumasi to face archrivals Asante Kotoko in a Matchday 31 fixture in the Ghana Premier League.
The talking point, however, has been about the performance of the nation’s most decorated clubs as they both find themselves in the bottom half of the table.
Kotoko are 10th with 40 points while Hearts are 12th with 38 points.
Speaking exclusively to Onua Sports‘ Alfred Takyi Mensah on Thursday, May 23, Amankwa Mireku, who lead Hearts of Oak to seven Ghana Premier League titles, said the players must have the supporters in mind on Sunday when they step on the pitch.
“The supporters are in pains, honestly, because the performance is not good,” he said of his former club Hearts of Oak.
“So, they have to use this platform on Sunday to compensate the supporters, so for me I see it as a compensation game.”
He added: “If you walk down the streets, you don’t see any flags of the clubs, which tells you the europhia for a Hearts-Kotoko game has come down.
“So, for me, I see it as in everything the power behind Hearts-Kotoko is down. At the same time, the performance of both teams has come down.
“Therefore, on Sunday I don’t expect anything much, just that the most important thing is for the players to perform for the supporters to be happy.”
A win for Hearts will see them leapfrog their opponents on the log while Kotoko will open a five-point gap with Hearts if they win.
