Ghana Premier League holders Medeama Sporting club takes on Guinean side Horoya FC in the second round of the CAF Champions League (CL) preliminary stages on Sunday, and head coach of the Ghanaian side has identified a thing to worry about on the side of his outfit.
Medeama will face Horoya FC away from their traditional Tarkwa based home grounds, as the fixture takes place at the Cape Coast sports stadium due to CAF regulatory requirements. Coach Evans Adotey has expressed concern over low support and low attendance at the stadium, due to the distance. He states, that the situation has taken away the 12th man factor, a condition which was clearly felt in their first game against Remo Stars in the first leg.
“Sometimes (playing away from Tarkwa) it affects, why because comparing games played at Tarkwa with our fans rallying behind us and looking at what transpired here the other time (against Remo Stars), you could see the stadium was empty, dead”, Adotey admits in a presser ahead of the Sunday game.
According to coach Adotey, even when Medeama scored the only goal in the match against Remo Stars in the first round, the entire Cape Coast stadium was quiet, bringing not just nostalgic memories of the cacophony of cheers, the usual deafening and earsplitting chants from the Medeama fans at the Tarkwa T & A Park, a factor which in one way or the other affects the team’s spirit on the field of play.
“Even when we scored the only goal I didn’t hear shouts or supporters cheering us or pushing us to score more. The stadium was quiet. It sometimes affects the players”, he added.
To him on the other hand, the crucial thing to do is to map up the needed strategy to aid the team come out victorious at the end.
“But to me as a coach it happens; the only thing I want is to make sure I give my team a massive win”, he concluded.
Medeama comes up against Horoya FC in the first leg of the second round of the CAF Champions League preliminary stages at the Cape Coast sports stadium at 15:00 on Sunday.
