Kumasi became a virtual cemetery when home side, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, lost the CAF Winners Cup to Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco in the final match played in Kumasi.
Though Kotoko won 2-1 to bring the overall score to 2-2, the Moroccans won on the cup on the away goal rule. It was a total disbelief and consternation when Egyptian referee El-Ghandour blew his whistle to signify the end of the game as the supporters remained glued to their seats while the Moroccans jubilated.
In a match watched by Vice President Aliu Mahama in which Kotoko was expected to win to give Ghana her first win of the Cup Winners cup, the porcupine warriors disappointed their fans badly.
In losing the cup, Kotoko must blame themselves since they approached the match as if there was nothing at stake, especially during the first half.
They appeared sluggish and allowed the Moroccans a lot of room to manipulate and operate as they were faster and got all the 50-50 balls and virtually forced Kotoko to play to their style.
The first half was not particularly exciting but it was Wydad who threatened a goal in the 34th minute as Joe Hendricks cleared the ball off the itching foot of Kassab Boujemaa. Wydad whose defensive strategy in this half confused Kotoko, almost always took the ball away from the homesters anytime they entered the goal area.
However, in the 41st minute, Aziz Ansah's throw in caught the Wydad defence off guard but Shilla Alhassan could not reach the ball as it was cleared by the defence. Two minutes later, Kwadwo Poku who was a virtual passenger had a through pass from Shilla Alhassan, but before he could get his foot to it the ball was cleared.
Kotoko who were gradually beginning to assert themselves, worked the ball into their opponents goal area in the 44th minute but Hamza Mohammed shot erratically with his left from Shilla's pass.
With a possible defeat staring them in the face, Kotoko started the second half on a fast note and nearly got the opener in the 50th minute but the Wydad defence cleared the ball Goalkeeper Jarmouni Taril of Wydad was shown the yellow card in the 46th minute for hitting Aziz Ansah after both of them had jumped for a high ball.
Two minutes later, Kotoko earned a corner kick but wasted it. In another minute, goalkeeper Tarik denied Shilla Alhassan a goal when he tried to flick the ball past him.
Wydad nearly broke the hearts of the teeming Kotoko supporters when Erraji Mourad beat the offside trap and forced goalkeeper Osei Boateng to come out to challenge him but in the process he shot wide.
However, Kotoko were not to be denied a goal as Aziz Ansah shot his side into the lead in the 55th minute. Kotoko pulled out Kwadwo Poku in the 68th minute and brought in Frank Osei while Wydad also sent in Bahafid Omar for El Janab in the 74th minute.
These changes seemed to have benefited Wydad who equalised in the 75th minute through Talhar Moustapha from Kassan Boujemaa's corner kick which he directed to the blind side of goalkeeper Osei Boateng.
Most of the fans became so downhearted after the equaliser that they started leaving the stadium knowing that the cup had eluded their darling club. However, Kotoko rallied round again and in the 84th minute, Michael Osei sent the fans jubilating again as he restored Kotoko's lead and, with that, a ray of hope appeared that Kotoko could pull the chestnut out of the blazing fire. But their hopes were dashed as Kotoko could not find the third goal tried as they did.
Goalflashes and major incidents from BBC
94 mins: The final whistle is blown. Wydad have won the African Cup Winners' Cup !
92 mins: Wydad clear their area but in fact an offside is given in their favour.
90 mins: Freekick is wasted but appears that Kotoko can still make more chances as the fourth referee signals that there is four minutes of extrat time to play.
89 mins: Kotoko win a dangerous freekick which could just seal the game - and the Cup.
87 mins: Kotoko are deep inside the box of Wydad as the final three minutes will be nerve wracking - Kotoko need one goal to win the Cup.
87 mins: GOAL.Kotoko 2-1 Wydad. Kotoko score through Michael Osei, after slack Wydad defending.
85 mins: Wydad lock up their defence and are content passing the ball around, as it seems Kotoko have lost hope of pulling those two goals back.
81 mins: An open Wydad defence almost concede a goal as substitute Frank Osei nearly puts Kotoko ahead from a freekick.
80 mins: Kotoko need to score twice now if they are to lift the trophy as the Wydad goal rules out any possibility of the game going into a shoot out.
73 mins: GOAL Wydad equalise from a corner.
73 mins: Nervously Wydad combine to boot the ball away.
70 mins: Kotoko win a freekick from 25 yards. It is in a very dangerous position. Stephen Oduro aims for the top angle but the ball flies inches over the crossbar.
67 mins: Heragui almost sends the Kumasi Stadium silent as he beats the Kotoko keeper, but puts the ball narrowly wide.
64 mins: A near miss for Kotoko as Jarmouni manages to slap away the ball a few inches from the goal line denying the oncoming Michael Osei an easy finish.
62 mins: Kotoko waste a corner kick played deep into the Wydad penalty box, as the ball is headed away by Abrami.
54 mins: GOAL.......... Aziz Ansah scores for Kotoko. His shot hits the hands of a Wydad player but the ball crossed the line and by the time captain Abrami of Wydad clears away the ball has already crossed the line.
52 mins: Michael Osei's header, from a long cross, shaves the angle of the post
50 mins: Wydad fire a free kick recklessly off target.
47 mins: Wydad move onto the attack, but play is held up as two players collide.
47 mins: Wydad survive the early scare after an intense tussle but keeper Tarek Jarmouni is booked for punching Michael Osei.
46 mns: the second half commences, and Kotoko go straight into attack and win a corner seconds after kick-off
First half
Kotoko are certainly making the most of their advances but they must push forward and get composed in front of goal to make clear chances.So far the home side look jittery and run out of ideas inside Wydad's penalty box.
Wydad seem comfortable with the score and do not seem to be under pressure.
Oscar Fullone's boys look relaxed and could afford to play around without making too much effort to attack.
They have relied on the counter-attack.
44 mins: Kotoko continue to push as half-time apprioaches.
43 mins: Mohamed Hamza volleys from 20 yards but his shot flies over the bar.
40 mins: an exchange of raids see Wydad miss a 4 against 2 counter-attack, and Kotoko's Pokou fail to control at the edge of the box with a lot of space to finish.
39 mins: Wydad just manage to clear away a dangerous throw-in after Kodjo Pokou's brilliant work on the right flank.
36 mins: Kotoko are having enormous troubles penetrating the Wydad defence.
33 mins: Wydad go on the counter and Heraguiis denied the last touch on the penalty spot by defender Isaac Owusu.
31 mins: Kodjo Pokou tries a solo effort but he shoots outside the box wide
30 min: Kotoko pile on the pressure and Wydad have to rely on the height of their goalkeeper to cut out some dangerous crosses.
27 mins: Kotoko win a free-kick on teh edge of the Moroccan penalty box.
But Mohamed Hamza's kick is blocked by a defender.
25 mins: Kotoko defensive midfielder Aziz Ansah makes a terrible error and nearly gave away a goal to the Moroccans
22 mins: Godwin Ablordey fires off target after a combination with Michael Osei, who is the top scorer in the competition with six goals.
20 mins: Play is held up for a minute for Madihi to recover for an injury after he is stretchered off.
15 mins: Shilla Alhassan misses a good chance for Kotoko.
8 mins: The early exchanges are heated, with neither side gaining the upper hand.
1400 GMT: The game kicks off in front of a huge crowd of approximately 80,000 people.
Line Up: Osei Boateng Aziz Ansah Godfred Yeboah Ninja Hendricks Hamza Mohammed Stephen Oduro Ablordey Kwadwo Poku Shilla Alhassan Michael Osei
Ghanaian vice president Aliu Mahama and the Ashanti King Otumfuo are among the supporters.
Ghana's Asante Kotoko and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco will seek to add the African Cup Winners' Cup title to previous success in the African Champions Cup on Sunday.
The two sides meet in the second leg of the Cup Winners' Cup final at Kumasi's Sports stadium in Ghana with Wydad holding a slender 1-0 lead from the first leg in Casablanca last month.
Kotoko's formidable home form in this year's competition, and their attacking style of play, makes them favorites to overcome the slender deficit but they will be facing a side with experienced defensive acumen and some veteran players.
Wydad also hope to bring to the match some of the Midas touch of their Argentine coach Luis-Oscar Fullone, who has won two African Champions League titles in the last four years.
Fullone only joined Wydad in October, when they played in the semi-final stage of the tournament, but has already made his mark.
Wydad are expected to defend in numbers, their back line marshalled by Lahcen Abrami, who has competed at two World Cup finals for the Morocco.
"We are confident and calm. We know what we have to do. Defend our lead, that's all," Fullone said on Friday.
For Kotoko, concerns in recent days over the fitness of their top strikers have been quelled. A clean bill of health has been pronounced over Michael Osei, whose six goals in this year's Cup Winners' Cup make him this tournament's joint top scorer.
Also recovered from injury are Shila Alhassan and influential midfielder Hamza Mohamed but there remains a doubt over Nana Arhin Duah, who has been prolific in front of goal for Kotoko this year.
Kotoko's German coach Ralf Zumdick has had his side cloistered away for the last two weeks since the end of the domestic season in Ghana but the provincial town, some 200km west of the capital Accra, is already abuzz with expectation.
Cars and businesses were drafted in red bunting, the colours of Kotoko, Ghanaian newspapers reported this week. No Ghanaian or Moroccan side has previously won the Cup Winners' Cup, which first started in 1975.
Kotoko are appearing in their sixth African club competition final, having won the Champions Cup twice before.
Wydad were winners of the Champions Cup a decade ago but have lived in their shadow of their city rivals Raja Casablanca in recent years.
Raja play in the second leg of the African Champions League final in Cairo against Zamalek of Egypt on December 13.
Sunday's match in Kotoko is to be handled by Egyptian referee Gamal El Ghandour, who also officiated the second leg of last year's African Cup Winners' Cup, won by Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa.
Kumasi became a virtual cemetery when home side, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, lost the CAF Winners Cup to Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco in the final match played in Kumasi.
Though Kotoko won 2-1 to bring the overall score to 2-2, the Moroccans won on the cup on the away goal rule. It was a total disbelief and consternation when Egyptian referee El-Ghandour blew his whistle to signify the end of the game as the supporters remained glued to their seats while the Moroccans jubilated.
In a match watched by Vice President Aliu Mahama in which Kotoko was expected to win to give Ghana her first win of the Cup Winners cup, the porcupine warriors disappointed their fans badly.
In losing the cup, Kotoko must blame themselves since they approached the match as if there was nothing at stake, especially during the first half.
They appeared sluggish and allowed the Moroccans a lot of room to manipulate and operate as they were faster and got all the 50-50 balls and virtually forced Kotoko to play to their style.
The first half was not particularly exciting but it was Wydad who threatened a goal in the 34th minute as Joe Hendricks cleared the ball off the itching foot of Kassab Boujemaa. Wydad whose defensive strategy in this half confused Kotoko, almost always took the ball away from the homesters anytime they entered the goal area.
However, in the 41st minute, Aziz Ansah's throw in caught the Wydad defence off guard but Shilla Alhassan could not reach the ball as it was cleared by the defence. Two minutes later, Kwadwo Poku who was a virtual passenger had a through pass from Shilla Alhassan, but before he could get his foot to it the ball was cleared.
Kotoko who were gradually beginning to assert themselves, worked the ball into their opponents goal area in the 44th minute but Hamza Mohammed shot erratically with his left from Shilla's pass.
With a possible defeat staring them in the face, Kotoko started the second half on a fast note and nearly got the opener in the 50th minute but the Wydad defence cleared the ball Goalkeeper Jarmouni Taril of Wydad was shown the yellow card in the 46th minute for hitting Aziz Ansah after both of them had jumped for a high ball.
Two minutes later, Kotoko earned a corner kick but wasted it. In another minute, goalkeeper Tarik denied Shilla Alhassan a goal when he tried to flick the ball past him.
Wydad nearly broke the hearts of the teeming Kotoko supporters when Erraji Mourad beat the offside trap and forced goalkeeper Osei Boateng to come out to challenge him but in the process he shot wide.
However, Kotoko were not to be denied a goal as Aziz Ansah shot his side into the lead in the 55th minute. Kotoko pulled out Kwadwo Poku in the 68th minute and brought in Frank Osei while Wydad also sent in Bahafid Omar for El Janab in the 74th minute.
These changes seemed to have benefited Wydad who equalised in the 75th minute through Talhar Moustapha from Kassan Boujemaa's corner kick which he directed to the blind side of goalkeeper Osei Boateng.
Most of the fans became so downhearted after the equaliser that they started leaving the stadium knowing that the cup had eluded their darling club. However, Kotoko rallied round again and in the 84th minute, Michael Osei sent the fans jubilating again as he restored Kotoko's lead and, with that, a ray of hope appeared that Kotoko could pull the chestnut out of the blazing fire. But their hopes were dashed as Kotoko could not find the third goal tried as they did.
Goalflashes and major incidents from BBC
94 mins: The final whistle is blown. Wydad have won the African Cup Winners' Cup !
92 mins: Wydad clear their area but in fact an offside is given in their favour.
90 mins: Freekick is wasted but appears that Kotoko can still make more chances as the fourth referee signals that there is four minutes of extrat time to play.
89 mins: Kotoko win a dangerous freekick which could just seal the game - and the Cup.
87 mins: Kotoko are deep inside the box of Wydad as the final three minutes will be nerve wracking - Kotoko need one goal to win the Cup.
87 mins: GOAL.Kotoko 2-1 Wydad. Kotoko score through Michael Osei, after slack Wydad defending.
85 mins: Wydad lock up their defence and are content passing the ball around, as it seems Kotoko have lost hope of pulling those two goals back.
81 mins: An open Wydad defence almost concede a goal as substitute Frank Osei nearly puts Kotoko ahead from a freekick.
80 mins: Kotoko need to score twice now if they are to lift the trophy as the Wydad goal rules out any possibility of the game going into a shoot out.
73 mins: GOAL Wydad equalise from a corner.
73 mins: Nervously Wydad combine to boot the ball away.
70 mins: Kotoko win a freekick from 25 yards. It is in a very dangerous position. Stephen Oduro aims for the top angle but the ball flies inches over the crossbar.
67 mins: Heragui almost sends the Kumasi Stadium silent as he beats the Kotoko keeper, but puts the ball narrowly wide.
64 mins: A near miss for Kotoko as Jarmouni manages to slap away the ball a few inches from the goal line denying the oncoming Michael Osei an easy finish.
62 mins: Kotoko waste a corner kick played deep into the Wydad penalty box, as the ball is headed away by Abrami.
54 mins: GOAL.......... Aziz Ansah scores for Kotoko. His shot hits the hands of a Wydad player but the ball crossed the line and by the time captain Abrami of Wydad clears away the ball has already crossed the line.
52 mins: Michael Osei's header, from a long cross, shaves the angle of the post
50 mins: Wydad fire a free kick recklessly off target.
47 mins: Wydad move onto the attack, but play is held up as two players collide.
47 mins: Wydad survive the early scare after an intense tussle but keeper Tarek Jarmouni is booked for punching Michael Osei.
46 mns: the second half commences, and Kotoko go straight into attack and win a corner seconds after kick-off
First half
Kotoko are certainly making the most of their advances but they must push forward and get composed in front of goal to make clear chances.So far the home side look jittery and run out of ideas inside Wydad's penalty box.
Wydad seem comfortable with the score and do not seem to be under pressure.
Oscar Fullone's boys look relaxed and could afford to play around without making too much effort to attack.
They have relied on the counter-attack.
44 mins: Kotoko continue to push as half-time apprioaches.
43 mins: Mohamed Hamza volleys from 20 yards but his shot flies over the bar.
40 mins: an exchange of raids see Wydad miss a 4 against 2 counter-attack, and Kotoko's Pokou fail to control at the edge of the box with a lot of space to finish.
39 mins: Wydad just manage to clear away a dangerous throw-in after Kodjo Pokou's brilliant work on the right flank.
36 mins: Kotoko are having enormous troubles penetrating the Wydad defence.
33 mins: Wydad go on the counter and Heraguiis denied the last touch on the penalty spot by defender Isaac Owusu.
31 mins: Kodjo Pokou tries a solo effort but he shoots outside the box wide
30 min: Kotoko pile on the pressure and Wydad have to rely on the height of their goalkeeper to cut out some dangerous crosses.
27 mins: Kotoko win a free-kick on teh edge of the Moroccan penalty box.
But Mohamed Hamza's kick is blocked by a defender.
25 mins: Kotoko defensive midfielder Aziz Ansah makes a terrible error and nearly gave away a goal to the Moroccans
22 mins: Godwin Ablordey fires off target after a combination with Michael Osei, who is the top scorer in the competition with six goals.
20 mins: Play is held up for a minute for Madihi to recover for an injury after he is stretchered off.
15 mins: Shilla Alhassan misses a good chance for Kotoko.
8 mins: The early exchanges are heated, with neither side gaining the upper hand.
1400 GMT: The game kicks off in front of a huge crowd of approximately 80,000 people.
Line Up: Osei Boateng Aziz Ansah Godfred Yeboah Ninja Hendricks Hamza Mohammed Stephen Oduro Ablordey Kwadwo Poku Shilla Alhassan Michael Osei
Ghanaian vice president Aliu Mahama and the Ashanti King Otumfuo are among the supporters.
Ghana's Asante Kotoko and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco will seek to add the African Cup Winners' Cup title to previous success in the African Champions Cup on Sunday.
The two sides meet in the second leg of the Cup Winners' Cup final at Kumasi's Sports stadium in Ghana with Wydad holding a slender 1-0 lead from the first leg in Casablanca last month.
Kotoko's formidable home form in this year's competition, and their attacking style of play, makes them favorites to overcome the slender deficit but they will be facing a side with experienced defensive acumen and some veteran players.
Wydad also hope to bring to the match some of the Midas touch of their Argentine coach Luis-Oscar Fullone, who has won two African Champions League titles in the last four years.
Fullone only joined Wydad in October, when they played in the semi-final stage of the tournament, but has already made his mark.
Wydad are expected to defend in numbers, their back line marshalled by Lahcen Abrami, who has competed at two World Cup finals for the Morocco.
"We are confident and calm. We know what we have to do. Defend our lead, that's all," Fullone said on Friday.
For Kotoko, concerns in recent days over the fitness of their top strikers have been quelled. A clean bill of health has been pronounced over Michael Osei, whose six goals in this year's Cup Winners' Cup make him this tournament's joint top scorer.
Also recovered from injury are Shila Alhassan and influential midfielder Hamza Mohamed but there remains a doubt over Nana Arhin Duah, who has been prolific in front of goal for Kotoko this year.
Kotoko's German coach Ralf Zumdick has had his side cloistered away for the last two weeks since the end of the domestic season in Ghana but the provincial town, some 200km west of the capital Accra, is already abuzz with expectation.
Cars and businesses were drafted in red bunting, the colours of Kotoko, Ghanaian newspapers reported this week. No Ghanaian or Moroccan side has previously won the Cup Winners' Cup, which first started in 1975.
Kotoko are appearing in their sixth African club competition final, having won the Champions Cup twice before.
Wydad were winners of the Champions Cup a decade ago but have lived in their shadow of their city rivals Raja Casablanca in recent years.
Raja play in the second leg of the African Champions League final in Cairo against Zamalek of Egypt on December 13.
Sunday's match in Kotoko is to be handled by Egyptian referee Gamal El Ghandour, who also officiated the second leg of last year's African Cup Winners' Cup, won by Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa.
