Kumasi, Nov.16, GNA - Mr Joe Aggrey, Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports and coaches E.K. Afranie and Bahner Siegfried, of King Faisal have congratulated Kumasi Asante Kotoko for their qualification to the finals of the Confederation Cup.

Speaking in separate interviews with the GNA sports immediately after Kotoko's victory over Al-Hilal in Kumasi on Saturday, Mr Aggrey lauded the team for exhibiting total commitment throughout the competition to reach the finals.

"This feat could mark the beginning of good things to come in the wake of fallen standard of Ghana's football".

The Deputy Minister was however, disturbed about the numerous chances Kotoko squandered in the match and lamented that the scenario had become a hall mark of Ghanaian teams who fail to take their chances and score at international matches.

"In modern football the few chances a team fails to utilize could prove disastrous as the opposing team could undo such game plans" Coach Afranie cautioned the players not to be carried away by their qualification to the finals but work hard to win the cup which he said was the ultimate prize.

He lauded the Management Board of the team for putting in place the necessary measures to atone for the team's elimination from the CAF Champions League earlier in the year.

Coach Bahner lauded Kotoko for confirming their status in African football with their qualification but admitted that there was still a lot of work to be done if Kotoko were to win the cup.

He was particularly not happy with the occasional loss of concentration by the defence which he said gave Al-Hilal some begging chances which they failed to utilize.

Kotoko beat the Sudanese 3-0 last Saturday to throw the entire Kumasi into a frenzy. 16 Nov. 04