It happened twenty-three years ago. Yet, the pain from that scar is still fresh in the minds of Kotoko fans.
In 2002, Kotoko defeated Wydad Athletic Club (WAC) of Morocco, 2-1 in the CAF Cup Winners Cup, but the trophy would go to the Moroccans based on the away goals rule, following their 1-0 win from the first leg.
Since then, Wydad has become a taboo topic for Kotoko fans.
In 2022, the post-traumatic stress disorder was triggered when the Moroccans were drawn against Hearts of Oak in a CAF Champions League final round eliminator.
That fixture was traumatic because it paired the last two teams to have denied Kotoko continental silverware; WAC in 2002, and Hearts of Oak in 2005, when they beat Kotoko in the Confederation Cup final. Both did it in Kumasi.
The two defeats have added to Kotoko’s dreadful record in finals; two wins and seven defeats from nine finals, across Champions League, Confederation Cup, and Cup Winners Cup finals.
Wydad would go on to deliver a 6-1 shellacking to Hearts of Oak, over the two legs.
When you add all that together, you can almost appreciate why Kotoko fans have not really celebrated Sunday’s 5-3 aggregate win over Kwara United.
Even the fact that Sunday was the first time in 55 years that Kotoko had won in Nigeria has flown under the radar. And it’s all for one simple reason: Wydad Athletic is on the horizon.
What the skeptics do not tell you is that, two years after that defeat, Kotoko avenged it when they beat Wydad 3-1 on aggregate in the playoff stage of the maiden CAF Confederation Cup.
Admittedly, the pain of losing a cup final cannot be ameliorated by winning a play-off tie.
Perhaps also, the manner in which that campaign ended, another final defeat, this time to the eternal enemy, Hearts of Oak, made everything about the tournament forgettable.
However, this is not 2002. Nor is it 2022.
Quite a bit has changed since Wydad last won the CAF Champions League.
Since they last won the league, Wydad has been anything but competitive.
They finished in sixth place with 44 points at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, 28 points behind league champions Raja Casablanca.
Last season, they could only manage a modest third place with 54 points, 16 points behind R.S. Berkane, who won the league.
Their best finish since winning the league in 2022 was a second-place finish in 2023 when A.S FAR pipped them to the title by just a point.
That record pales in comparison to the last Wydad team that came here.
It is a new team, with new players, new managers, and a new presidency.
Hicham Aït Menna, a millionaire mostly known for his interests in construction and a Member of Parliament of Mohameddia, is the club’s new president.
Before him, Said Naciri, who has been incarcerated on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, etc., ran the club for a decade.
The team he built is what many assume Wydad still is.
But they are not what they used to be. Not since the final days of Said Naciri’s presidency.
In his ten-year reign, Naiciri delivered two of Wydad A.C.’s three Champions League titles – 2017 and 2022, and five league titles. The last two of five league titles and the 2022 Champions League title were all won by the team that many confuse with the current group.
But that era ended when Walid Redragui left to focus on the Morocco job, with whom he made the World Cup semi-final.
The following year, they lost the final to Al Ahly and did not make it past the group stage.
They are still probably better than Asante Kotoko, but there is a reason that they have not won a trophy in three years and have dropped to the CAF Confederation Cup this year.
October 18 is important, but first Kotoko needs to block out the noise and enjoy this qualification.
Even if Wydad Athletic is better, it is not in Kotokoa’s nature to cower at the sight of any opponent on the continent. Or to give up. That would go against everything the club represents.
Critics and outsiders can doubt them, as is their job. But Kotoko cannot afford to do that.
Not the club, the team, nor its supporters.
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