Head Coach of Kumasi Asante Kotoko Steve Pollack has defended his players after missing three penalties in their 1-0 win over CARA in the Confederations Cup.
The players came under huge criticisms after they only converted one of the four penalties that were awarded to them.
Striker Sadick Adams, Baba Mahama as well as captain Amos Frimpong all missed from the spot before substitute Yakubu Mohammed converted his penalty in added time to give Kotoko a first-leg advantage.
“Penalties are like a lottery, the goalkeeper has nothing to lose, it is the player who has more to lose than the goalkeeper and if you look at the penalties we took, the first one from Saddick was well taken but missed, the second one was poorly taken and third was well saved,’’ Pollack said in the post-match conference.
The missed penalties have been blamed on Juju (black magic). This is after CARA refused to honour their mandatory training but decided to urinate in the two-goal posts 24 hours before the match.
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But Polack has rejected those claims. He said: ‘’If people want to believe in that[Juju] it is fine, I don’t have a problem with that but I don’t believe in that[Juju].’’
Kotoko will travel away to Congo Brazzaville in a fortnight for the second leg clash.
