Outspoken Asante Kotoko coach, Isaac Opeele Boateng, has assured followers of the club that the Porcupine Warriors will surely bounce back in the coming weeks.
He told the Graphic Sports in a post-match interview that Kotoko would certainly recover whatever they had lost in the past weeks.
“This win marked a turning point for the club in the remaining season as well as our quest to make a great impact in the Champions League.
Opeele had led a Kotoko side which had been uninspiring in the past weeks to subdue a stubborn Ittihad side in their maiden appearance in this year’s Champions League.
He said even though his team played well and won 3-1 against Ittihad, he was not impressed because his players were still wasteful in front of goal and that the scoreline at the end of the game was a flattery.
Coach Opeele said his immediate task was to work on the accuracy of his strikers to make good use of the chances they create in the second leg in two weeks time.
“Looking at the performance of the team and the kind of chances we created, I must say that Ittihad were spared in this encounter,” he noted.
He said even though they had won, the job would have been much easier in the upcoming second leg encounter in Morocco if the strikers have displayed accuracy at goal .
. He was upbeat that Kotoko will survive the crucial second leg in Morrocco.
“The journey to become African Champions and move to the top of the local league table starts from now, there is a lot of work to be done and I would present a well -composed team than what we presented in the first leg,” he said.
Asked how he viewed his relationship with the management of Kotoko since he took over the coaching job, he said “I must be honest, I have been given a free hand to operate, I made I lot of changes without interference or being instructed on what to do.”
Prior to the match against the visiting Ittihad Khemisset, Coach Opele said, he repositioned the players to meet the standard of the visiting team and it paid off , but for the poor execution of the countless chances.
He said they had identified many weaknesses on both sides and would work on it to the advantage of Kotoko before the next match in Morocco .
Despite the 3-1 defeat, Ittihad’s Coach, Bubadi Mohammed was optimistic that they were going to sail through to the next stage of the championship.
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