Kumasi Asante Kotoko interim head coach, Abdul-Karim Zito, says Golden Kick tired out in the final phase of a closely contested 2025 MTN FA Cup Final game before Kotoko scored the winning goal to lift the title.
He said this in an exclusive interview with Citi Sports after leading Kotoko to a 2-1 win over Access Bank Division One outfit Golden Kick at the University of Ghana Stadium.
Kotoko striker Kwame Opoku scored twice in the win via a header in the 17th minute and an audacious converted penalty kick in the 89th minute.
However, the penalty call was a controversial one and sparked heated discussions between the game officials and Golden Kick players and officials who at a point threatened to abandon the game but in the lead up to the contentious call, Karim Zito believes that Golden Kick’s level of intensity had dropped.
“It reached a point, they started getting tired and we started pushing them so I told my boys, it wouldn’t be very easy for us, it’s going to be tough but at the end of the day, we’ll win. Before the penalty came, they started getting tired…that is the result of fighting your senior brother” Zito said.
A late Opoku penalty seals victory for the warriors . pic.twitter.com/AwUbgjjEq3
— Asante Kotoko SC – 2X CAF CL Winners🥇 (@AsanteKotoko_SC) June 15, 2025
By winning the 2025 edition, Karin Zito has won two FA Cup titles as a head coach and in the process Kotoko have secured qualification to compete in next season’s CAF Confederation Cup. Scroll down to watch video.
“I told my boys it won’t be very easy for us, it’s going to be tough but at the end of the day, we’ll win”
Karim Zito gives his assessment of the MTN FA Cup final game between Asante Kotoko and Golden Kick #CitiSports pic.twitter.com/bgwZ5GNmlJ
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) June 15, 2025
