The 2024/25 FA Cup final will be anything but typical. In a season marked by shocks, slip-ups, and storylines worthy of a screenplay, the stage is now set: Golden Kick, a Division One underdog, will square off against Asante Kotoko, the storied colossus of Ghanaian football whose current state is more scaffold than sculpture.
This final — unfancied, unexpected, but utterly enthralling — is not just about silverware. It is a test of legacy versus longing, tradition versus tenacity, and experience versus exuberance.
Asante Kotoko booked their place in the final with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Berekum Chelsea, courtesy Albert Amoah’s late strike.
It wasn’t pretty. It didn’t need to be. For a club navigating a difficult rebuilding phase, grit will do just fine. In a performance defined more by defensive organisation than attacking flair, the Porcupine Warriors showed flashes of the resolve they hope will return them to their glorious heights.
When Abdul Karim Zito walked into the dressing room of this illustrious club, many believed the giant would inevitably return to the big stage. Others were sceptical — and rightly so. For all its tradition and pedigree, this club has a baffling tendency to press the self-destruct button, even when the path ahead appears smooth.
Simply put, it was hard to justify the decision to part ways with Prosper Narteh Ogum. Yet here we are — back in another FA Cup final.
The Kumasi-based giants have a storied past in the MTN FA Cup, having won the competition nine times — their most recent triumph coming in 2017 against rivals of Hearts of Oak.
The then FA Cup Committee headed by now GFA President, Kurt Okraku, described it as Unmissable. It was a game that had everything. Within 30 minutes, Porcupine Warriors former striker Saddick Adams led an onslaught of Hearts of Oak, grounding them like pepper in a grinding mill.
It’s been eight years since that night in Tamale, and this club has not tasted this success. None of the current of group players have experienced that glory.
But they probably might been told the many stories of this final and what it means to this club and maybe, how Kotoko lost a final to a Duvision One Club 14 years ago.
That ghosts of 2011 still lurk in memory. That was the year Kotoko were stunned by Nania FC — a Division One side owned and coached by Ghanaian football royalty, Abedi Ayew ‘Pele’. Nania’s 1-0 victory in Accra was not just a headline, it was a parable. Even giants can be humbled.
Golden Kick will surely take heart.
Ghana’s FA Cup has long been a theatre for fairytales. Its slogan, Obia ny3 Obia (to wit everyone is equal) lives by it.
In 2016, it was Okwawu United, a lower-tier side with dreams bigger than their budget, who danced all the way to the final before falling to Bechem United 2-1 at the Cape Coast stadium. In 2021, it was AshantiGold who were nearly humbled by Division One’s Berekum Arsenals in the quarterfinals.
That is the magic of the Cup. It asks not for permission, but for belief.
In 2016, I stated how Division One teams could match Premier League clubs after Kotoko struggle to beat a lower tier club in the quarterfinals.
Golden Kick can ride on that belief.
This team, who thumped Attram De Visser 3-1 in the other semi-final, are the latest to ride that wave of belief. Known for their emphasis on youth development and tactical discipline, the club has quietly built momentum over the past few seasons. Now, with one game to go, they stand on the cusp of footballing folklore.
To call this Kotoko team a shadow of its illustrious past would be both fair and harsh.
The Porcupine Warriors are in the middle of a painful yet necessary transformation. Internal restructuring, off-field management issues, and inconsistent league form have made the 2024/25 campaign a rollercoaster.
This FA Cup run, however, offers a shot at redemption — a chance to gift their fans hope, and perhaps, a trophy.
Yet hope alone won’t be enough.
Golden Kick may lack the pedigree of Kotoko, but they will not lack courage. And if Kotoko underestimate them, they may find themselves reliving a nightmare from 14 years ago — when another unknown side, led by another dreamer, stole the crown right from under their noses.
The 2024/25 FA Cup final is a contest of contrast. It is about a young club yearning for its first major title and an old club desperate to prove it is still worthy of reverence.
For Golden Kick, this is a dream realised. For Kotoko, this is a legacy on trial.
And for the rest of us, it is the final we never saw coming — but perhaps, the one we most need to see.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
