2004 CAF Conf. Cup: 'Stephen Oduro refused to take part in the penalty kicks - Chibsa
3rd May 2020
Kotoko legend Stephen Oduro refused to partake in the penalty shootout of the 2004 CAF Confederations Cup final, despite plea from his colleagues, former teammate Yussif Chibsa has said.
The porcupine warriors lost to Accra Hearts of oak in a dramatic 8-7 penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in regulation time of the rescheduled final.
After 15 years of the famous fracticidal final between the two rivals, Chibsa reveals some of the Kotoko players felt reluctant to take part in the shootout that saw them lose the maiden CAF Confederations Cup right infront of their voiceforous fans at the then Kumasi Sports stadium.
Chibsa neatly convert his but says some of his colleagues were in fear to step up for the challenge.
"It got to a point nobody wanted to take the penalty," Chibsa said, sitting as panelist on GTV Sports plus on Sunday.
"We begged Oduro to take the penalty but he refused."
Chibsa's revelation comes after the television station showed a replay of arguably the biggest game ever between the two clubs on Sunday in one of its "time with the captains" series.
Both teams had dropped to the Confederations Cup after they both got eliminated in the see champions League.
While Hearts got booted out by Etoile Du Sahel in Tunisia, Kotoko lost to USM Algiers in Kumasi, a match Oduro missed his kick.
But glory was staring at the reds in the Grand finale when Charles Taylor gave them the lead in the 51st minutes, only for a resurgent Hearts of Oak to make things murky for the signing red fans, who were hoping for a trophy in their team'sd 9th continental finals.
An 81st minutes stunners from Adjah Tetteh was all the rainbow club needed to push the game into a marathon penalty shootout.
According to Chibsa, a poor technical decision by coach Hans Dieter Schmidt accounted for the team's failure to hold on the the lead, that had set the entire stadium agog.
"We lost the game from the bench," he said.
"The substitution the coach made was unnecessary."
The equaliser from Jones Attuquayfio's men turned out to be a major booster that propelled the Phobians to ensure they returned to Accra as Kumasi conquerors.
And the shootout even got funnier when the winner could not be decided after the first five kicks from either sides.
Skipper for Hearts of oak deferred the Phobians victory when his last kick was saved by goal keeper George Owu, after Edmund Owusu Ansah had missed Kotoko's third.
But the sudden death in the shootout became a demon that hounded players of Kotoko for which Stephen Oduro counted himself out of huge task.
Yet his reason became justified when his team captain Joe Hendricks became the villain of the day after he picked up the gauntlet to kick his team's 9th, which was saved by Keeper Danni Mohamad.
With just a kick to win the greatest contest between the two, it was debutant Michael Donkor who scored to win the biggest trophy in for the year 2000 Champions League winners