Asante Kotoko must follow foot steps of Mamelodi Sundowns in Caf Champions League |

Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko must follow the foot steps of Mamelodi Sundown as the Premier League leaders may enter into the Caf Champions League next season.

Kotoko lead the Ghana Premier League table 8 points off second place Aduana Stars and looking from the pattern of results Asante Kotoko will lift the title.

Their glory in the Ghanaian top flight put them up in the air for Caf Champions League football next season. When they enter into the competition Mamelodi Sundowns is one team the Ghanaian giants should learn from to make meaningful impact.

Asante Kotoko is one of the historically recognized clubs in the African Champions League but they have struggled to make bold claims in recent years.

They last played in the 2018 Caf Confederation Cup group stages and failed to progress beyond with Sudanese side Al Hilal topping their group and Nkana FC cementing the second position.

Until that feat four years ago, Kotoko had not played in group stage of any Caf Inter Club competition for 10 years. In light of this latest development, Kotoko achieved money zone football in 2008 Confederation Cup but placed fourth behind Etoile Sportive du Sahel on top of Group B, followed by Al Merrikh and JS Kabylie.

With only two group stage achievements in even second tier club football in 14-year period doesn’t speak well of a club the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) sees as African Club of the Century.

For the Champions League, they have not made it beyond second round since 2006 having seen sides Ittihad Khemisset, ASC Linguère, Barrack Young Controllers, JSM Bejaia, El Eulma, ES Setif and Al Hilal eliminate them from the African first tier competition.

Most of these eliminations have been handed by North African sides as Asante Kotoko lost their unbeaten Champions League home record to them when Algerian side El Eulma was the first to win 2-1 at Baba Yara Stadium in 2015 while the Ghanaian club have not been able to break their poor away record by winning in North African soil.

But they have South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns to learn from who have become a tough side for North African clubs thrashing Al Hilal 4-2 in Sudan- Hilal own home ground. Sundowns dominated the African Champions League and won it in 2016 to become the second non-North side to win the title between 2011 and 2022.

TP Mazembe were the first to win the Champions League in 2015 through the guidance of French boss Patrice Carteron. The Dr. Congo side emerged imperial to the likes Zamalek, Etoile du Sahel, ES Tunis, Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca on the way to glory.

After Mazembe’s dominance, Sundowns immediately followed foot steps of the Dr. Congo side and eventually lifted their first ever title in 2016 after beating Zamalek 3-1 in two legged final.

Sundowns was a stronger opposition for Zamalek thrashing the Egyptians 3-0 in final first leg before losing 1-0 in return leg at Alexandria. That white-washing of Zamalek was Sundown’s turning point of standing tall against North African clubs in the Champions League.

Since then, Mamelodi Sundowns have managed to outclass Al Ahly following 5-1 aggregate win which they thrashed the reigning African champions 5-0 in 2018 Champions League quarter-finals first leg.

Arguably, Sundowns is one of the five powerhouses in African football over the last 6 years and second best, after TP Mazembe, non-North African side over the same period.

In this season’s competition, Mamelodi Sundowns is the best team so far despite CR Belouizdad, Raja Casablanca and ES Tunis enjoying fine forms as well. The South Africans have gone unbeaten in Champions League group stages along with Angolan side Petro de Luanda and ES Tunis.

The manner the PSL side have handled their North African opponents has been splendid; never struggled and totally showed quality and absolute superiority. The beat Al Ahly back-to-back in dominant performance in two Group A games.

A double victory is rarely achieved against Al Ahly and the back-to-back beating of the Egyptian side tells the gap Mamelodi Sundowns have opened off their North African competitors.

The PSL leaders are a huge mountain for ES Tunis, Wydad Casablanca, Etoile du Sahel, Al Ahly and Raja Casablanca to climb in this season’s Caf Champions League.

With TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns finding the antidote in playing against favorites North African sides over the years, Asante Kotoko must learn from these non-Norths. Since TP Mazembe is currently out of sight, the Ghanaian side should draw on experiences of Sundowns who are currently the best club to face the Northern forces.

For all this period where Sundowns groom into a force against North Africans, quality players have been key to the journey. The South African side sign the best players in South Africa and players who fit by way of understanding systems at the PSL outfit. They also add few exceptional quality players from South America where they land into Gaston Sirino back in 2018.

Sundowns also have managed to keep majority of stars and that’s why TP Mazembe and Al Ahly would launch attempt to sign one of their best midfielders Sirino but the Brazilians would remain resilient to sell.

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This culture has been kept this season after maintaining their best players including Themba Zwane who is the best player on the continent so far, and Sundowns further strengthened with addition of Surprise Ralani, Teboho Mokoen, Sifiso Ngobeni, Divine Lunga, Neo Maema, Grant Kekana and Thabiso Kutumela while their exceptional South American signings have been Bolivia International Erwin Saavedra and Pavol Safranko from Slovakia.

Kotoko should copy this move and the Ghana league leaders may be on the card for maintaining their superstars. They announced at least 13 quality signings at beginning of this season; Augustine Agyapong, Joseph Amoako, Samuel Appiah, Maxwell Agyemang, Sheriff Mohammed. Justice Blay, Richmond Lamptey, Stephen Amankona, Isaac Oppong, Clinton Opoku, Samuel Boateng, Franck Etouga Mbella, George Mfegue and Charles Owusu but Joseph Amoako has departed for a seven month loan at Helsingborgs IF.

Though their prize asset Etouga Mbella who lead the Ghana Premier League top scorer chat could leave at the end of the season, Kotoko would reinforce their squad for the Caf Champions League next term with Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast the likeliest nationality of prospective new signings.

Read more on Mbella

Aside quality players, physical presence has been crucial in Sundowns turn into powerful force against North Africa sides in the Caf Champions League.

Physicality of players are key to dominate the Caf competition. Mamelodi Sundowns over the years build their players physically to match the demand of playing against North African clubs. Tall, bulky, aggression, fit and competitive weight advantage make it difficult for Al Ahly and Zamalek to play against Sundowns in recent years.

For Asante Kotoko, they have lacked the physical presence which has hampered their potentials in the competition over decades now. Kotoko players have been predominantly short but smart in history which stand against them against North African oppositions.

In Mazembe’s era, their players were strong and bulky which partly made it difficult for North Africans to beat them even in Mazembe’s away games. Sundowns have met this criteria and are enjoying football with no worries when they face Northern opponents.

This is the same piece of factor that has handed Petro Luanda advantage against Zamalek and Wydad Casablanca in this season’s Caf Champions League. The Angolan side dominated Zamalek, equally matched Wydad to go unbeaten in Group D that contains two strong North African forces. Petro Luanda is second place with 11 points, a point behind Wydad as the two meet in last group games.

Drawing on past TP Mazembe, current Petro Luanda and Mamalodi Sundowns experiences, in as much Asante Kotoko will search for quality players, they should include physically tall, aggressive, strong, bulky and at the same time technically gifted players on their signing mission next season.

Another area Asante Kotoko should also learn from Mamelodi Sundowns is ensuring stability in technical department. The PSL side is one of the few clubs to have a stable technical team. The departure of Pitso Mosimane to Al Ahly didn’t change anything from Sundowns’ technical team as Manqoba Mngqithi took over the managerial role as Mosimane’s replacement.

Mngqithi has been assisted by Rulani Mokwena to drive Mamelodi Sundowns to the promise land as Mosimane did before leaving for the Egyptian job. Mosimane won the Caf Champions League and domestic titles for Sundowns. Mngqithi has won the PSL title and could lift this season’s Champions League given the trend of performance.

The two coaches along with other figures in the technical area have clearly carried out their duties without internal and external interference. The appointment of all required technical personnels, clearly defined roles, understanding of roles and harmony appear the things pushing Mamelodi Sundowns in this term’s African Champions League.

Over the years, the Ghana Premier League outfit has suffered issues list above leading to serial hiring and firing of coaches. However, they may be on the way to learning from their past mistakes after appointing Dr. Prosper Narteh Ogum on a 3-year deal to lead the technical department.They have appointed assistant coaches, team manager but must still add other important personnels- i.e video analyst, defensive coach and set-piece trainer with clearly defined roles.

With Sundowns’ technical team becoming matured after ensuring the following practices, Kotoko could enjoy similar outcome to be able to face North African sides. The unity alone in there would make them difficult to break before combining ideas in the dugout could turn defeating games into their favour. Is like Kotoko should build a strong long term technical team with a specific direction they want to go like South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns.

While Asante Kotoko have struggled to dominate the African Champions League for seasons due to surge of North African clubs, the Ghanaian side seem lost of what they need to do to bounce back.

TP Mazembe have shown the gate way in the past and currently Mamelodi Sundowns have added after not only thrashing but completely dominating Al Ahly, Zamalek, Al Hilal, Etoile du Sahel in crucial Champions League games in recent times.

Mazembe and Sundowns have signed ‘quality’ players and physically strong and technical at same time, groomed them for some years and build a matured technical department which is currently making Sundowns a strong force against North African sides.

Kotoko should copy these strategies if they want to reclaim their misplaced glory days in the Caf Champions League- that the title has eluded them since 1983 after beating Al Ahly in the final.