Kotoko Failure in Africa : Asante Kotoko are the newest Ghanaian club to fail in Africa following their elimination from the CAF Champions League by RC Kadiogo of Burkina Faso.
The elimination of the Porcupine Warriors means only Hearts of Oak is remaining in this year’s CAF club competitions. The Phobians face Association Sportive du Bamako of Mali in the second round of the CAF Confederation Cup.
But the wretched away performance of Hearts of Oak in their African campaign of last season – losing by 6 goals to 1 at WAC and by 4 goals to nothing at JS Saoura – means very few people will be pinning their hopes on the Phobians to do better this year.
Even board member Nyaho Tamakloe does not expect Samuel Boadu to achieve any better things in Africa. His criticism of the coach and the team is enough evidence.
Needing to avoid a defeat at home in order to make it into the next round of the CAF Champions League , Kotoko were toppled by Rail Club de Kadiogo of Burkina Faso ; a side whose head coach Amadou Sampo had to rely on just phone calls in his room at Macoba Hotel for match updates because of a positive Covid-19 result which he even contested it’s authenticity.
Mentally Weak
Advantages were there but Kotoko still failed. First , an away win at Cotonou put the team of Seydou Zerbo in charge of the tie and in the return leg in Kumasi , Steven Mukwala was presented with the biggest chance of the encounter but he failed to make it count.
During the penalty shoot-out just look at how Osei Bonsu , Sarfo Taylor and Enock Morison took their shots. Miserable.
If you carefully watched the Kadiogo players , they were tougher mentally and their determination to go through was not only demonstrated in their media interviews , they went on to prove it on the pitch.
Lack of consistency
Razak Abalora , Samuel Frimong, Ismail Ganiyu, Wahab Adams, Imoro Ibrahim, Emmanuel Gyamfi, Adom Frimpong and Latif Anabila, Godfred Asiamah , Kwame Poku and Opoku Mensah. This was the Kotoko starting line – up in their last CAF Champions League match played on 23rd December 2020 – a one nil defeat against Al Hilal at the Accra sports stadium.
It is worrying to see that none of the above players played a part in this year’s games against RC Kadiogo. All those players have left the club with Ismail Ganiyu being the latest to join a long line of departed players.
Imagine. Etouga Mbella who scored 21 goals in his debut league season for the Porcupine Warriors left for Egypt just around the same time the team contested the second leg against RC Kadiogo.
Without consistency , we are surely always going to be doomed in Africa.
The stats are indeed horrible. No Ghanaian side has reached the CAF Champions League group stages since Berekum Chelsea did so in 2012. For Hearts of Oak and Kotoko , you have to trace back to 2006 when they last competed at the best stages of the biggest African club competition.
If giants Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko have failed to be our leading lights in Africa , where do we get is our new source of hope now ? Apparently , we have no other source at the moment.
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