#OnthisHeartsDay 2000 AD: HEARTS 4-0 KOTOKO.
15 years on, and it has still not sunk in. 71 derbies before then, 22 after it; yet, nobody has forgotten. 101 games have been played between Hearts and Kotoko, but none of the other 100 games come close to this very game.
15th March, 2000 AD was the day. Unarguably, the greatest assembly of men ever gathered in Club football history in Ghana. The team that went on to win four unprecedented trophies in a season had set their greatest rivals on fire. They humiliated Kotoko. Battered them left, right and center with the Porcupine Warriors not knowing what exactly had hit them. The 64-battalion and their sweeping force were a nightmare for the legions of Kotoko fans till this very day and a reverie for the fans of the Oak tree.
Four goals have been scored by a team in the 101 Hearts versus Kotoko clashes in the league on three occasions. Hearts lead the way with 3 victories (after scoring four) to Kotoko’s one.
First, Hearts beat Kotoko 4-3 in an abandoned game in 1958 at the Jackson Park – the Phobians won the replay at the same venue 5-2; Kotoko avenged that defeat with a 4-2 win in Accra the same year. But Hearts repeated the trick again, a quarter of a century later from 1958, when they beat Kotoko 4-3 in another classic thriller in Kumasi.
Close to two decades later after the terrific 4-3 Hearts win over Kotoko in 1983, Cecil Jones Attuquayefio whose career had spiraled down after he picked up an injury whilst playing for – Hearts of Oak’s city rivals – Accra Great Olympics against Kotoko in the 1971 Africa Club Champions semi-final, had his revenge when the team that brought him success as the Best Coach in Africa in 2000, trounced Asante Kotoko 4-0 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
A rainy Wednesday morning and a mid-week fixture in only the second game of the season saw Kumasi Asante Kotoko trek to the Accra Sports Stadium to face old foes Accra Hearts of Oak. The Porcupines had a good start to the year after they beat Hearts in the J.O.T Agyeman Cup in February, 2000. It was time to repeat the dosage or – as time will later exemplify – to suffer their heaviest defeat since Ebusua Dwarfs shamed them 5-0 three decades earlier.
Hearts, in search of a first continental Cup in their 89-year history, were disinterested in the league after winning it on three consecutive occasions. The focus had switched to Africa, and the team was put to a secret training camp from January, 2000. A preparation for the African odyssey, has fate will have it, prodded Kotoko to Accra on the 15th of March, 2000.
What transpired could never be written down. An attempt to describe the day would be an understatement and an injustice, as an adjective worthy of perfectly depicting the game is yet to be coined by the Queen of England – an unofficial petition letter has been sent to Her Royal Highness in regard to a neologism befitting the 4-0 rout. But 15 years on, the Buckingham Palace reply has not reached the shores of the capital, Accra.
Four nil, the game ended. The precocious Ishmael Addo, top-scorer for Hearts in the derby with Kotoko, grabbed his customary two before the first half. Addo’s first, a thumping header from a Kenneth Sarpong cross in the 24th minute left defender Frank Atsu in a Sisyphean struggle, heading on beyond his keeper. The young assassin’s second, a sweet temerarious chip from outside the box over goalkeeper Oscar Asamoah few minutes to the half hour. It was so good that the commentator was left in stupefaction… “What a goal? Ishmael Addo…. Oooooooooooh!”
Kenneth Sarpong, one of the most silent yet salient stars of the 64-battalion juggernaut, added the third goal after the break with a sweet volley that could be watched over and over again, without the slightest feeling of monotony.
Emmanuel Osei Kuffour, the General, had redefined the word coolness and panache in front of goal with the most exquisite set of skill in the box since man had found delight in toying with the round leather ball.
Opoku Afriyie, Francis Kumi and K. Badu had established a standard in the derby when they scored for Kotoko to win 3-0 in Accra in 1980.
20 years on, the 64-battalion had obliterated the record in the derby; a sweet revenge and the greatest Hearts of Oak victory over Kotoko in 101 games. Thank you to the following legends who made this day possible. Thank you Cecil Jones for the unbridled joy you gifted us. And we will forever remember this day, and celebrate the names of the 64 battalions. Hearts XI is a mighty team. 4-0. 4-0. 4-0. 4-0. Kotoko, what is the score? Four – Zero. Again? Four! Or you want more?
HEARTS XI:
Sammy Adjei; Yaw Amankwah Mireku, Jacob Nettey (C), Justice Ampah, Stephen Tetteh; Joe Ansah, Charles Allotey ( Adjah Tetteh), Charles Taylor, Kenneth Sarpong ( ); Ishmael Addo (Emmanuel Adjogu), Emmanuel Osei Kuffour.
[Somebody asked me, why do you celebrate a past result? My answer was simple: I saw a T-shirt celebrating a Kotoko 2-0 victory over Hearts
. Now, do you still feel I should not celebrate a 4-0 score? What would they have done had they won by that margin against us? Maybe, they will build a 4-0 statue at the entrance of the Babayara………]
NB: At Hearts, nobody celebrates the 4-0 win. What we celebrate or commemorate are the 4 trophies we won. The 4-0 is just an appurtenance……
Ain’t you proud to be a Phobian?
heartseleven 