Mauritanian side Nouadhibou FC have touched down Ghana for the second leg of the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League against Asante Kotoko in Accra.

The Mauritanian giants landed at the Kotoko International Airport on Thursday evening ahead of the crunch clash against Asante Kotoko on Saturday.

FC Noudhibou, who moved to their Accra City Hotel base shortly after arriving in the West African country, will hold their first training session at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday.

Both sides will be gunning to punch their tickets to the next stage of the qualifying round when they square off in the return encounter on Saturday.

In the first leg, Kotoko opened the scoring Osman Ibrahim before the Northwest African nation side rallied back to pick a draw courtesy Hemeya Tanjy’s penalty.

The game will be coming off on Sunday 3:00 GMT

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Asante Kotoko have now played a 1-1 draw in their last four games in all competitions after losing their lead once again in their CAF Champions League game against Mauritanian side Nouadhibou FC.



The Porcupines will b looking to finish the job in Accra when the away team travel down for the second leg of the fixture next week.

Asante Kotoko started the game well and scored an early goal through Osman Ibrahim who buried a fine pass from Emmanuel Gyamfi to give them the lead.

However, the visitors lost their lead after the home side were awarded a controversial penalty in the 22nd minute of the game, Hemeya Tanjy stepped up and leveled the scoreline.

Asante Kotoko dominated the remaining minutes of the first half and the second half but couldn’t put themselves in front.

Nouadhibou will travel to Accra to face Asante Kotoko in the second leg of the fixture.

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Asante Kotoko will have three extra days to prepare for their CAF Champions League after their game against Nouaghibou in Mauritania was rescheduled.

The game was initially set for Friday 27th of November but information coming from CAF reveals that the game has been shifted to Sunday 29th of November due to the country’s Independence celebration on Saturday, 28th November.

Sahara Football understands the Mauritanian military will be preparing for the Independence celebration on Friday and won’t be able to provide security for the game, that’s why CAF shifted the game to Sunday.

Asante Kotoko have already landed in Mauritania and will have few extra days to prepare for the game.

The game will be played at the Nouakchott-Stade Cheika Boidiya on Sunday and the return leg will take place in Accra at the Accra Sports Stadium next weekend.

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced match officials expected to take charge of Asante Kotoko’s Champions League Preliminary round match against FC Nouadhibou.

The Porcupine Warriors will travel to Mauritania for the first leg tie scheduled for November 27, 2020.

Gaousou Kane has been named as Referee for the match and will be assisted by his compatriots Baba Yomboliba and Amadou Belly Gisse Amadou.

 Boubou Traore will be the 4th Official with Aboulikaecem Abdellah from Morocco as the Match Commissioner.

The game is expected to be played at Stade de Municipal de Nouadhibou.

FC NOUADHIBOU VS ASANTE KOTOKO SC

   Gaoussou Kane –                            Referee

   Baba Yomboliba                     –      Assistant Referee1

   Amadou Belly Gisse Amadou –     Assistant Referee 2

   Boubou Traore              –                 Fourth Official  

 Aboulikaecem Abdellah –                 Commissioner

The post CAF appoints Malian Referees for Asante Kotoko, FC Nouadhibou Champions League clash first appeared on Sahara Football.

Asante Kotoko SC have been drawn against Mauritania giants FC Nouadhibou in the preliminary round of the 2020/2021 CAF Champions League.

The draw for the preliminary and first rounds were done earlier today in Cairo, Egypt.

The Porcupine Warriors travel to Mauritania for the first leg before they play at home for the second leg.

Winner between Asante Kotoko and Nouadhibou will face the winner between Al Hilal Club of Sudan and Ugandan champions Vipers SC.

The first leg is scheduled to take place on 27–29 November 2020 whereas the second leg comes off on 4–6 December 2020

Nouadhibou are the current holders of the Mauritania Ligue 1 championship and have won it 8 times.

They are also four-time winners of the Mauritania FA Cup.

The post Kotoko face Mauritania champions Nouadhibou in CAF Champions League Preliminary Round first appeared on Sahara Football.

With next year’s CAF inter-club competitions yet to be kickstarted, the Ghana Football Association Executive Council yet again handed the baton to Ghanaian Premier League clubs, Asante Kotoko and AshantiGold to partake in next year’s competition.



Ghanaian Premier League champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko SC have confirmed their participation in the 2020/2021 CAF Champions League competition leaving their regional rivals, Ashantigold on edge as the September 11, 2020 deadline looms over their heads.

Kotoko’s confirmation was contained in a letter dated September 07, 2020, signed by CEO Yaw Amponsah and sent to the GFA.

The Club is expected to go through the mandatory Club licensing process as set out in the GFA and CAF Club licensing regulations.

Engagement and registration for the 2020/2021 CAF interclub competitions were opened on September 01, 2020, and will be closed on October 20, 2020.

Asante Kotoko and AshantiGold were chosen by the country’s FA council on the back of winning the Tier One and Tier Two competition respectively organized by the Normalisation Committee.

Hearts of Oak was the last club in Ghana to win the CAF Champions League far back in 2000 and it’s maiden edition of the CAF Confederation Cup beating fierce rivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko in 2004.

It remains to be seen if, Obuasi based Ashanti Gold will take up the option of confirming their participation in the competition as their regional rivals have taken steps to.

The post Kotoko confirm Africa participation leaving Ashgold on ice first appeared on Sahara Football.

Asante Kotoko were handed another shot in Africa after failing to make the group stages of the CAF Champions League following their humiliating 3-0 defeat against Etoile du Sahel in Tunisia.

In order not to repeat the same mistakes all over again in Africa, Asante Kotoko must address certain flaws if they want to achieve their goals in the CAF Confederation Cup.

1. Kotoko must improve their away form

Asante Kotoko have won only one of their last seven away games in Africa; conceding fourteen and scoring seven goals. Their away form is so bad that the fans don’t expect a win from their team whenever they play away from home, they only hope for ‘a good result’; a draw or a narrow loss, with the belief that they will win at home.

The last time Asante Kotoko won away from home was against Coton Sport ten months ago under CK Akonnor.

They will certainly have to work hard to improve their away form if they want to achieve their goals in the CAF Confederation Cup.

2. Kjetil Zachariassen must identify his best starting lineup 

Asante Kotoko used different starting lineups in all of their four games in the  CAF Champions League preliminary stage. Identifying the best starting lineup will be extremely important for their quest for glory in the Confederations Cup.

After four games in the CAF Champions League preliminary stage games, one would assume that Zachariassen should already know his strongest lineup ahead of their next shot in Africa.



3. Sogne Yacouba should be brought back into the team

The Burkinabe striker made the headlines when he was dropped from the Kotoko squad traveling to Tunisia to face Etoile du Sahel. Some fans still believe the outcome of the game might have been different if Sogne Yacouba featured in that game.

Sogne Yacouba was one of the important players for Asante Kotoko in last season’s CAF Confederation Cup, the striker contributed two goals and five assists in their last campaign.

Despite his fitness challenges, the Burkinabe is still an important player for Kotoko and should be played whenever he is fit.

If Asante Kotoko can successfully address the three areas stated above, they have a good shot of going far in the CAF Confederation Cup.

The Porcupines will Know their opponents in the playoffs on Wednesday, October 9th.

The post Three things Asante Kotoko must address ahead of their CAF Confederation Cup playoffs first appeared on Sahara Football.

Asante Kotoko resumed training on Thursday following their disappointing exit from the CAF Champions League after failing to scale to the group stages of the competition.

The Porcupines began training on Thursday as they prepare for the CAF Confederation Cup playoffs.

The Porcupines were relegated to the CAF Confederation Cup after failing to make the Champions League group stages, they will know their playoffs opponents on the 9th of October.

The post Asante Kotoko resume training after CAF Champions League exit first appeared on Sahara Football.

Asante Kotoko are considering terminating the contract of Norwegian coach Kjetil Zachariassen after failing to qualify for the CAF Champions League, according to several reports.

Reports suggest that the management of Kotoko are currently looking for possible replacements if they decide to sack Zachariassen.

Kjetil Zachariassen joined the Porcupines on a three-year deal replacing CK Akonnor who had his contract terminated weeks after winning the Special Competition tier-one cup with the club.

The post Asante Kotoko considering sacking Kjetil Zachariassen – reports first appeared on Sahara Football.

Asante Kotoko were eliminated from the CAF Champions League after losing 3-0 to Etoile du Sahel in the second leg of their preliminary stages tie in Tunisia and their head Head coach Kjetil Zachariassen has attributed the heavy defeat to the inexperience of his team.

The Porcupines failed to take advantage of their 2-0 first leg victory on Sunday, Etoile du Sahel were too strong for them as they showed their class to qualify to the group stages with a 3-2 win on aggregate.

“We didn’t stick to the plan, we played a little strange football; sorry to say but we showed that we don’t have too much experience at this level. They showed they have more experience and they used it. A long list of things were not good enough” he said



Following their elimination from the CAF Champions League, Asante Kotoko have been relegated to the CAF Confederation Cup and will make the group stages if they win in the playoffs.

“The boys are ready to learn and bring it to the Confederation Cup. The list is long of the things that we didn’t do well. We just have to learn from this. A lot of lessons. Most of it all, the mental side of it. We’ve got to be prepared in another way. Its got to be a mental thing, we did a lot of things in a wrong way. We have to learn from it” he stressed

Kjetil Zachariassen also added that his team are not yet ready for the CAF Champions League and will go again in the CAF Confederation Cup.

“This is our level at the moment. We are confederation Cup and I think that’s the right level for us. We have to be realistic. We’ve got to be realistic because we have only worked together for three months” he added.

Asante Kotoko will know their opponent in the CAF Confederation Cup playoffs next month.

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