Asante Kotoko captain Felix Annan says his side’s CAF Champions League exit must not be blamed on poor refereeing but admits he and his teammates were not their best in Tunisia.
Etoile du Sahel beat Kotoko 3-0 in the return leg overturn a first-leg deficit to progress to the group stage 4-3 on aggregate.
The first goal by Etoile was as a result of a controversial call by the Egyptian referee to award the Tunisians a penalty despite the ball not hitting the hand of Kotoko defender in the box.
The goal spurred Etoile on to complete the massive comeback and end Kotoko's dream of playing the money zone for the first time since 2006.
“It is a very painful defeat. We are not going to blame officiating or anything. We weren’t really at our best. I think our best was not enough. We had so much hope coming into the game after the first leg. It is unfortunate we couldn’t qualify to the group stage which we all wanted but this is the game. This is what football is made up. Sometimes there are ups and downs,” he told Kotoko Express.
“The mood in the camp is really down. We just have to pick ourselves up, recover and do well in the Confederation playoff. We have to move on and do well in the Confederation Cup.”
“As I have said, even though the officiating was bad, I don’t think we were any better. What we wanted to do; I don’t think we did it. As captain, I wanted the referee to know that what he was doing was not right. We had worked a lot and we were there for business. That’s why I approached him to tell him, he was unfair.”
Kotoko have dropped to Confederation Cup and will know their playoffs opponents on Friday.