CAF Confederation Cup Roundup

Etoile Halfway There

As I said in the comments of the preview, I missed the first ten minutes and was dozing in and out of sleep as I watched this one. Nevertheless, it was easy to notice from what I did see that Etoile had this game under control and the final result was never truly in doubt.

Esperance’s best chance to get a precious away goal came on a Darragi header which just missed the far post. Amine Chermiti, who was playing his last game in Sousse before his move to Hertha Berlin, opened the scoring in th 18th minute on a trademark lunging header.

Apparently Esperance didn’t read the scouting report on the elusive forward. He’s known to hang behind the defense on corners and sneak in unmarked for open looks. Kasraoui didn’t do his defense any favors by coming off his line to leave the goal mouth wide open for Chermiti. He could have added a second later in the match when he was one on one with the goalie but EST’s goalkeeper came out on top this time.

The second goal came in the 50th minute off of another header, this time from Ogunbyi who had been served a lofted ball by Mehdi Ben Dhifallah. Once again Kasraoui was caught in no mans land as he helplessly watched the ball travel over his head and into the net. Props to Muri who bounced back from a disappointing Cup Final before his departure to Guingamp in Ligue II. There were plenty of chances for Etoile (header on crossbar from Ben Dhifallah) to add to their lead but in the end they had to content themselves with a 2-0 win.

It’s not an insurmountable lead for EST but it’s going to be hard for them to bounce back if you consider the absences of certain players that are cup tied (most notably Eneramo). Without the Nigerian and Aboucherouane, EST looked pretty lost in attack and couldn’t really build any sort of momentum going forward. The defense wasn’t a comforting sight either with Chaabani absence already making them look fragile. Cabral will have to work some magic if they are to have a chance in the return leg.

There was a scary collision late in the match between Chermiti and Kasraoui. Both players were substituted but post match reports confirm that their injuries are not serious. I was especially worried about our Germany bound international. It would be very unfortunate for him to go to his new team carrying an injury… I’m really excited for him. There’s confusion about whether he will be able to play in his next game or not. Some say he’s suspended and others say he’s not. If he is in fact suspended he might leave early for Berlin to join their preseason training. I heard on mosaique fm that Balbouli went into the Esperance locker room after the match to check on his Kasraoui. It’s a small gesture but it’s full of meaning and it’s the kind of attitude we want to see in our sport.

Chermiti Goal

CSS Comeback Kids

This match was supposed to be shown on the official CSS website but technical difficulties made it impossible. Instead you could watch the CSS studio announcers sitting around a table and getting updates from a correspondent in South Africa. Apparently the feed was working during the warmups but members of the grounds crew didn’t allow the CSS TV team to set up once the game starts. The excuse: “no internet cable.”

Anyways, all I know about this is that CSS started the match off in the worst way possible by conceding 2-0 goals but managed to turn things around through goals from Opoko and Chaker Bargaoui. Abdelkarim Nafti was quoted on mosaique as saying that it was the introduction of Opoko and Blaise Kouassi that changed the game. I’m wondering why they weren’t in from the start…

This is a fantastic road result for the Sfaxiens who are trying to conserve their title. Getting out of there with a 2-1 loss would have even been a decent result because of the all important away goal but now they have two and have made their return leg look a lot more favorable.

I’m looking forward to watching them in their next match as I haven’t seen their new look squad in action yet.

Club Africain Disappoints at Home

I can’t say I was expecting a dominating performance in their first game back but it was clear that the team is still in preseason preparation mode. The CA players looked sluggish against a well organized Djoliba side that played effective short passing football which troubled us on more than one occasion.

Club Africain was first to threaten and was doing so mostly on set pieces. Djoliba didn’t have much trouble with defending during the run of play but they looked disorganized on the corners and free kicks. Unfortunately, no one was able to take advantage. The best chances of the first half came when Ben Yahia deviated a Sellami free kick with his head. It was similar to the first goal he scored against Etoile in Sousse earlier this year but the difference this time is that it didn’t end up going in.

The longer the game went scoreless, the more Djoliba gained in confidence and their players pushed forward. They troubled us with their high press and when they took the ball away they created a good number of chances. The best of which was a powerful point blank header that somehow sailed over the bar. CA on the other hand looked like shadows of their former selves, especially Junior Osagie who was called offside at least five consecutive times and messed up almost everything he tried. He was whistled throughout and subjected to a lot of discontent when he was subbed off.

His replacement, Rhifi (a player whom the fans also have mixed feelings about) was almost the hero when he broke the offside trap and centered the ball to Yahia who was unable to finish from close range as the goalie interfered. Before that Borhen Ghannem attempted a one time side volley that bounced off the grass and straight onto the crossbar. A win would have been better (when isn’t it?) but if you consider that CA’s defense looked leaky all night, 0-0 is actually not a travesty.

Nevertheless, Djoliba has yet to lose a match in the CAF and have a great home record so it will take a lot of effort for CA to go through now. Given their previous difficulties away from home in African competitions, there isn’t a lot to be positive about besides the return of Youssef Mouihbi who will once again be available after serving his two game suspension. His return won’t be enough though, Ben Chikha has a lot of work to do if we are to manage a positive result in Bamako.

What are your conclusions after these fixtures? Can EST bounce back? Do Platinum Stars have a chance after wasting that lead? And can CA finally get a win or a scoring draw away from Tunis?

In Other News

- Our Junior side lost 1-0 in Mali today and has been eliminated from the African Cup Qualifiers. One of our most talented generations and we can’t qualify… Etoile were well within their rights to refuse to let go of Mossaab Sassi for this one since he was a starter against Esperance but there’s no doubt he could have helped. He’s been the main goalscorer for that team after the U17 World Cup. CA asked for Nour Hadhria and Bilel Ifa to be spared from the trip but the FTF refused the request.

- Despite reports that our August 20 friendly would be against either Ghana or Togo, the FTF has settled on Angola instead. There will be plenty of reasons for fans to attend this match as it’s Coelho’s inaugural outing and Angola boasts talents such as Gilberto, Flavio, Manucho, and Maurito. A sound decision and hopefully one that pays dividends when we play Burkina Faso a few weeks after it.