Kotoko took a giant leap to qualification this past week when they played away to Burkinabe side, RC Kadiogo in Benin through an Isaac Opong last gasp goal.
For a side, blessed with so much talent, personnel, and history, one would have expected them to be consistently making it to CAF’s annual competition of either the Champions League or the Confederations Cup but a multiplicity of factors tend to rear its head preventing the team from showing up on the big stage when it matters the most.
Last season, when the management led by Nana Yaw Amponsah took the initiative of returning to Africa, you could tell that the whole Kotoko enclave was buoyed by that initiative, they were happy if that is not an understatement.
In fact, in one of their visits together with the playing body and supporters’ leadership to the Manhyia to present their medals as part of winning the Ghana Premier League 2021/22 trophy, the Life Patron Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the king of the Ashanti Kingdom tasks the club to win the upcoming 2022 CAF Champions League.
“I am happy you won the league and I am also happy to be receiving it. What is left is the Africa Champions League”
“Most of the players are bought from other clubs and so they leave very early. They join the club and leave sometimes just after a season. We must all try and keep the core of the team for this African Campaign” he added
To a large extent, these words seem more of an encouragement to the entire team to make a mark on the African terrain than bringing the actual trophy home which seems more of a daunting task considering a lot of variables would have to be in play to help this team actualize this dream.
The club having dipped into the market to replace Prosper Ogun Narteh with Burkinabe coach, Seydou Zerbo will hope that his experience, disciplinarian traits, and tactical astuteness will help the team make the mark considering the club’s history of playing Burkinabe side’s in this competition.
If for nothing at all, it’s been 16 years since Kotoko played in the group stage of the CAF Champions League, and with the return leg up on the cards this Sunday, it’s imperative for the fans to show up in their numbers to give the team the needed boost for their African campaign.
