OPPONENTS of Kumasi Asante Kotoko in the CAF Champions League, Kano Pillars of Nigeria, have fired the first salvo ahead of their game with the Ghanaian champions.
In an interview with Kumasi-based Fox 97.9 FM yesterday, Kano Pillars' goalkeeper Ibrahim Iddrisu, was optimistic of upsetting the Porcupine Warriors.
"We were very happy when we heard that we were going to play against Asante Kotoko. Kano Pillars are also a big club here in Nigeria just as Kotoko and we are aware of Kotoko's strength so we are preparing. Just as Kotoko and Hearts of Oak are the biggest clubs in Ghana, so is Pillars also with Enyimba FC here; so we are expecting an interesting clash.
"It's been four to five years since Kano Pillars have been in the Champions League and that is the club's needed competition. Therefore, our target now is to go beyond the group stages by eliminating Kotoko from the competition," he asserted.
Kotoko face off with the Nigerians in the preliminary round of the 2020 CAF Champions League which gets underway next month.
The first leg of the tie will take place in Kano on the weekend of August 9-11 with the return leg at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on the weekend of August 23-25.
Kotoko qualified to represent the country after winning the Normalisation Committee's special competition Tier I.
Their opponents, Kano, on the other hand, finished as in the Nigeria Premier League champions, last season.
Kotoko will be hoping to reach the group stage of a CAF inter-club competition for the second straight time after making it in the CAF Confederation Cup last season.
Ashantigold, on the other hand, would travel to Equatorial Guinea to face Akonangui in the first leg of the CAF Confederations Cup slated for August 9/10, 2019 with the return encounter at the Len Clay Stadium, two weeks later.
Kotoko will face winner of the tie between Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel and Guinea's Hafia Club, if they overcome the Pillars.
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