Five sins of Asante Kotoko that resulted in CAF Champions League failure

Ghana Premier League champions, Asante Kotoko recorded one of their worst performances in the CAF Champions League as they bowed out of the tournament in the preliminary round.

The Porcupine Warriors were optimistic of reaching the group stages at

Read full articlethe CAF Champions League but failed to make it past the first stage.

The Porcupine Warriors began their CAF Champions League campaign with a one-goal advantage from the first leg thanks to a goal from Isaac Oppong.

Unfortunately, in the second leg which was played at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Asante Kotoko succumbed to a 1-0 defeat. The result meant that the fixture had to be decided via penalties.

Kotoko bowed out of the competition as they lost the penalty shootouts by 3-1 to Kadiogo.

Here are 5 things that went wrong for Asante Kotoko in their CAF Champions League campaign.

Goal-scoring big problem for Asante Kotoko

Asante Kotoko failed to score more goals against the Burkinabe club in both legs. The Porcupine Warriors struggled to get a goal in the first leg as Isaac Oppong left it late.
Kotoko could have put the fixture to bed in the first leg as they had a flurry of chances but the players failed to convert to them.

As it is said in football, if you fail to take of your chances, you get punished and that’s exactly what happened to Kotoko.

Inexperience

To succeed in continental football, you need some bit of experience in your team and Asante Kotoko lacked that.

The negative impact of player exodus and lack of proper planning were exposed as the Porcupine lacked the men with the experience to weather the storm and lead them to victory.

Kotoko missed some of their key players such as Imoro Ibrahim, Franck Etouga, Mudasiru Salifu and Ismail Ganiyu who played instrumental roles in Kotoko’s success in the GPL last season.

The current Kotoko team is in transition and it will take a while for them to settle down with a new captain and coach.

Coach Seydou Zerbo struggled

After watching Kotoko’s performance from their pre-season in Sudan to playing in the CAF Champions League it was obvious that either the players were not being able to implement the coach’s tactics or there is none.

Aside the language barrier which a huge problem, the Burkinabe coach has failed to prove his merit as a tactician.

As succinctly stated by Collins Atta Poku in the tweet below, Asante Kotoko’s coach was out-thought by his Kadiogo counterpart.

Penalty shootout haunts Asante Kotoko

Like a ghost, Asante Kotoko continue to be haunted by penalty shootouts in continental competitions.

The 3-1 defeat on penalties to Kadiogo is their 12th consecutive shootout defeat in the history of CAF inter-club competitions.

As manifested in yesterday’s game, the club has done little to work on their shootout skills.

Indecisiveness on Etouga saga

Right after the season ended, it was clear Franck Mbella Etouga was not going to stay at the club. Kotoko failed to replace the Cameroonian in their squad ahead of the new season.

Although Kotoko brought in a few players, the void created by Etouga was too wide for any player to fill. Convincing Franck Etouga to stay a few weeks to play in the CAF Champions League would have been the best decision for Kotoko although the player was eager to leave.

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