When Aduana Stars qualified for the group stage of the 2018 Caf Confederation Cup few people gave them a chance over the likes of Raja Casablanca, Asec Mimosas and AS Vita Club.

And that appears to be the case now as the Ghana champions are already out of the competition ahead of the final matchday. On opening day, they lost 1-0 to Asec Mimosas and further made matters worse by conceding a 3-3 home draw against Raja.

Japanese coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi was brought on board to replace Yussif Abubakar who began the campaign and that decision seemingly paid off.

A victory over AS Vita Club at home came along. In that game, Aduana showed heart and team spirit which brought back some optimism that they could make an impact going forward.

At that point, they were in a good position to qualify from the group, with four points and three matches remaining. However, a defeat to Vita Club in the return fixture in Brazzaville was compounded by a shock 2-0 loss to Asec in the penultimate matchday in Dormaa Ahenkro, which dashed the remaining hopes.

A win against the Ivorians would have breathed life back into their ailing campaign ahead of the final game, but it appears all over for this edition.

Aduana’s performance thus far exposed a lot of weaknesses, but we must not forget they are debutants in the tournament and still have a lot to learn.

With four points at the bottom of Group A, Aduana travelled to Morocco to face Raja Casablanca with 14 players due to financial constraints.

While many Ghanaians regard the fixture as a dead rubber, Kenichi and his charges need to put in their best to avoid humiliation and earn some respect in Africa!