Kariobangi Sharks chief brags – ‘We have a competitive advantage over Asante Kotoko’

 

Nairobi-based Kariobangi Sharks Chairman, Robert Maoga believes his side are competitively better than Kumasi Asante Kotoko in terms of match fitness ahead of their possible clash with the Ghanaian giants in the CAF Confederation Cup.

The 2018 SportPesa Shield winners have one foot firmly planted at the 1/16 stage of the 2018/2019 Confederations Cup after thrashing Djibouti’s Arta Solar 6-1 in the first leg of the preliminary level, making the second leg away from home almost a forgone conclusion for coach William Muluya’s side.

A qualification at the expense of Arta Solar will mean the Sharks will face two times CAF Champions League winners Asante Kotoko in the 1/16 stage, and Robert Maoga insists the Sharks are currently better between the two.

 

“We are preparing for them”, Maoga said in an interview, speaking to Kumasi based FOX FM.

“We know the Ghana Premier League has had an issue and when you look at it, the league ended somewhere in June so they’ve not been match fit and you know we have been playing competitively so we have an upper edge on them”, Maoga explained.

The astute club administrator maintained that his outfit is highly intuitive of certain outstanding players in the Kotoko squad, pointing to where he sees the Porcupine Warriors to be strong.

“We’ve looked at a couple of (Kotoko) games, they are very good defensively, they have one or two wingers who are good but I think we are up to the task. We are going to be lucky to come and play there (in Ghana) but we want to come and get a win in Ghana”, he stated.

In the absence of a competitive competition in Ghana, Asante Kotoko have currently been engaged in couple of friendly matches in preparation towards the continental assignment.

After beating Accra Hearts of Oak back to back in two legged friendly, they’ve recently been unbeaten in their last four friendlies, beating league sides WAFA 1-0 and drawing 1-1 with in-form Medeama SC.

The team is currently based in Kumasi where they are preparing to begin their continental campaign against either Kariobangi Sharks or Arta Solar FC.