Ghana’s Ashantigold will hope to improve on their disappointment in recent years when they play Akonangui of Equatorial Guinea in a Caf Confederations Cup preliminary-round match in Ebebiyin on Saturday.
The last time Ashantigold played in a Confed Cup match in 2011 and they were eliminated by Etoile Sahel of Tunisia on a 4-2 aggregate.
Their next taste of African football was in the Champions League in 2016 when they exited the competition at the preliminary round after losing 3-1 to MO Béjaïa of Algeria.
For a club that has dominated the Ghana Premier League for some time, the technical team believe it’s time for them to put the club on the map, hence leaving nothing to chance in their quest for honours in this year’s Caf Confederation Cup.
Despite losing their head coach, Kjetil Zachariassen, to regional rivals Asante Kotoko, they brought in Brazilian coach, Ricardo Cordeiro da Rocha to head the technical staff.
Da Rocha knows the ins and outs of the Ghana football terrain, having coached elite division outfit Ebusua Dwarfs during the 2016/2017 season before returning to Italy to assist coach Alberto Bolini to manage Club Salernitano in 2018.
Talking about the match against Akonangui FC, he said: “This is what we have been preparing for. We won the competition in Ghana to qualify and get the chance to play in Africa, so we have to respond irrespective of which team we are faced with.”
He revealed that together with the rest of the technical staff, they have been monitoring their opponent’s performance in recent times and have a fair idea of what they are up against.
“We have been working together to study some basic things about their play. We know what to expect in Equatorial Guinea, so we are preparing for it.
“Most of these players have not played in this competition before, but are willing to make a mark. So yes, we are ready. Let’s see how far we can go, but taking it one match at a time is key at this point,” he added.
In partnership with ANA and Mediapix
You must be logged in to post a comment Login