Club Africain Sets Things Straight in Tunis With an Emphatic 4-0 Win

After a disappointing 2-0 loss in Togo to ASKO de Kara, Club Africain faced the challenge of having to score three goals and not concede any at home to be sure of qualification.

Given the fact that the goals in the trip to West Africa came off uncharacteristic defensive mistakes, this second leg was appearing more daunting than it ever should have been. While it was never guaranteed that CA could overturn this result, the majority of fans seemed to never doubt that their team would progress in the Champions league. This was evident when the squad was greeted at the airport by about 20 or 30 fans upon their return from Togo. The message was clear: “We’re still here for you and we still believe in you.”

One fan told Youssef Mouihbi something along these lines: “Just wait for Friday, you know us. We’re gonna be there in numbers as usual. We’ll do our part and the rest is on you guys.” Basically that’s exactly how it went down. Stade El Menzah was packed to the brim with hopeful and loyal supporters. Lucky for them they got to see a remarkable performance from players who were determined not to leave this competition so early. After 90 minutes, a questionable penalty in our favor, suffocating pressure on the Togolese, a legitimate Mouihbi goal refused for an imaginary offside, and a lot of chanting the scoreline read 4-0 in favor of the Red and Whites. This should serve as a huge psychological boost in Club Africain’s continued quest for silverware on three fronts (the League title, the Coupe de Tunisie, and the Champions League).

Elsewhere, CAF Cup Champions Club Sportif Sfaxien tied Bejaya of Algeria 1-1 to progress on 2-1 aggregate score and Esperance turned things around in Rades with a nervy 2-0 win over Rachad Bernoussi after their unexpected 3-1 loss in Morocco. All in all a great day for Tunisian Soccer. I just read Etoile lost 3-0 in Dakar today after one of their players was shown a red card. I guess it’s good they built a huge cushion with that 5-0 win in Sousse. I’ll be interested to watch those highlights when they become available. No matter, they’re still the champs and they’re still going through. Congrats to all our team in African Competitions. Let’s keep this up!