Asante Kotoko will have it all to do in Morocco after falling 1–0 at home to Wydad Athletic Club in the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup second preliminary round tie.
The Ghanaian giants put up a spirited display at the Accra Sports Stadium but were undone early in the second half when Congolese forward Joseph Bakasu Banka pounced on a loose ball from a corner to net what proved to be the game’s only goal.
CAF Confederation Cup: Asante Kotoko felt short after home defeat to Wydad
Despite the narrow loss, Kotoko head coach Karim Zito insists the tie is far from over. Speaking to the press after the match, he acknowledged the uphill task ahead but remained optimistic about his team’s chances of turning things around in Casablanca.
“If someone had told me we will lose the game, I wouldn’t have believed based on our preparations, but it’s football,” Zito said.
“It’s two legs, we have just played one. They won here so we can also go and win. We’re currently in a very difficult situation but it doesn’t mean overturning the score to qualify isn’t possible. We’re not going there as losers, we’re going there to play better than we did here.”
Kotoko will need to summon all their resilience when they travel to face Wydad in the return leg on Friday, October 24, at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca. The aggregate winner will progress to the lucrative group stage of the 2025/26 CAF Confederation Cup.
