Asante Kotoko Head Coach, Kjetil Zachariassen
Ahead of Saturday’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League preliminary round tie against Kano Pillars of Nigeria, Asante Kotoko Head Coach Kjetil Zachariassen has told Kotoko Express that, the Porcupines are in the Northern Nigeria state for only one purpose. That purpose is to win the game.
Zachariassen said victory remains their sole objective. Despite admitting that, nothing can be taken away from Kano Pillars, Coach Zachariassen pointed out that, the Porcupines would put in their all to win the match regardless of the strength or weakness of their opponent.
The Norwegian tactician made this known shortly after his last training session at Accra Academy, where the team trained for three days before emplaning for Nigeria on Thursday morning. “The target is to win every match, that is always our guide. We don’t go in for draw. We don’t go in to lose, we go in to win and we try our best to win” said the Norwegian trainer.
The Porcupines face quite a herculean task in Kano as they have resolved to give the Nigerians a shock at their backyard, where they rarely lose. While Kano Pillars’ home indomitability may not be in doubt, Coach Zachariassen maintained that, Kotoko have the inherent quality to churn fine result, arguing that they would put on display their full talent to record a positive outcome.
“We need to fulfill the God-given quality everybody has; the capacity of every player, we will work hard on ourselves to deliver to the maximum. If we do that, I personally, will be happy” noted Coach Zachariassen, who dismissed the notion that, there was pressure on the team.
He insisted that, they are totally aware of the supporters’ expectation and they would be in Nigeria to do their best. “We know our quality; we will give our best” argued Zachariassen.
Supporters’ enthusiasm has been on the high side throughout the week. It is with that fervor, that many of the fans will be following Saturday’s game, hoping that the Porcupines will return home on Sunday with a result that would make qualification to the next stage of the competition relatively easy, when the second leg is played in Kumasi two weeks after the first leg encounter.
