Asante Kotoko Communications Director, Sarfo Duku, has opined that Wydad Athletic Club were overhyped before last Sunday’s encounter.
The Moroccan giants beat Asante Kotoko 1-0 in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round on Sunday, but Sarfo Duku insists Kotoko were the better side.
Despite their encouraging start to the game, the Porcupine Warriors were unable to break the deadlock. The two teams went into the break with nothing to separate them.
Asante Kotoko were reduced to ten men in the second half while trailing by a goal to nil when the goalkeeper handled the ball with his hands outside the penalty box, prompting the referee to send him off as the last man.
Speaking to Luv FM, Sarfo Duku said, “The players are so confident. I think that before the game, the Moroccans were overhyped. I did not see much of a difference between the two clubs.
“In fact, Kotoko even played better in the second half, but for that glorious chance that we lost in the first half, the story would have been different”.
Sarfo believes Kotoko, who knocked out Kwara United in the first round, beating them back-to-back, can go away and reverse the scoreline on Friday.
“They [players] know that the Moroccans are just being overhyped; they can play with them. So that mentality going into the second leg, I’m sure that they’ll go all out. We did it in Nigeria, and they believe that they can still do it. The players haven’t lost hope at all.”
The second leg of the tie is scheduled for Friday in Casablanca, where Kotoko will need to overturn the deficit to advance to the group stage of the competition.
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