Asante Kotoko suffered a painful elimination from the CAF Champions League after losing 3-1 on penalties to Burkina Faso side Rail Club du Kadiogo.
The Porcupine Warriors suffered a 1-0 defeat in the second leg in Kumasi, and the tie ended 1-1 on aggregate.
Asante Kotoko dominated the match but they failed to give themselves the two-goal cushion they needed to advance, with the visitors even coming to scoring two more goals Ziem Hien and Bassiaka Syla in the second half.
The two sides had to settle for a nerve-wracking shootout that saw two of their player miss their attempts to send the Burkinabes s to the first round of the competition.
The first shot of the game came of Isaac Opong in the seventh minute but the winger fired his effort wide off target.
Kadiogo went ahead in the 15th minute mark with their first shot on target as Raouf Dao slotted home from close range after some great play by Dauda Sibide.
Stephen Mukwala came close in the 29th minute with a shot from a distance but Babayoure Sawadogo managed to tip the striker’s effort over the bar.
The second half started with Dauda Sidibe nearly doubling Kadiogo’s lead as the winger tried to catch Ibrahim Danlad off his line but the winger’ lobbied effort sailed over the bar.
Isaac Oppong tried his lack from range five minutes later but the Kotoko’s marksman fired his effort over the bar.
Christopher Nettey came close to equalizing for Kotoko in the 70th minute but the midfielder’s deflected effort went just wide of the right of the post.
Kadiogo came close to adding their second in the 86th minute when Raouf Dai flew to meet Sidibe’s long throw but his header hit the side netting.
Kotoko created a number of decent chances as well but did not do enough to trouble the Rail Club du Kadiogo defense.
