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Etoile Fights Till the End

December 12th, 2007 | By: Rami | 7 Comments »

Unfortunately I don’t have time to write a full report as the game just ended and I have to get ready to leave for work. Let me just say that Etoile played a great game but didn’t manage to find the net against the South Americans. Still, this was far from the so called “goal rush” Boca was promising before the match began. I think they have a better idea about the level of play on the African continent and in Tunisia specifically. A very honorable performance by our boys who more than held their own in the game of their footballing careers so far. We had quite a few clear cut chances (especially the Gilson Silva header which could have changed everything in the 88th minute). 3rd place is still in reach and that would match Al Ahly’s finish in the competition last year. Congratulations to the players who were undaunted by the name Boca Juniors and realized that they could be taken just like any other team. Well done, I hope to see this kind of fighting spirit from our national team in the upcoming African Nations Cup. Bravo!

Highlights will be available here. Once I find more I’ll update. Sorry I can’t write more, I think I’m gonna be late!

Update

This article pretty much says it all. Let’s hope they can make a podium finish to truly seal the deal on the great promise they’ve shown the world. We’ve always known these guys were good and capable but there’s a whole lot of people that have never even heard of Etoile. With every good performance and result in this tournament they show people that much more.

Tags: Al Ahly, Boca Juniors, Club World Championships, ESS, Etoile Sportive du Sahel, Group H

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Comments

By Share | December 12th, 2007 at 8:36 am

Congrats!

But Boca did have only ten men for a third of the match (and were, according to reports, denied a clear penalty). So perhaps that’s why there was no goal fest!

Posted from United States

By Rami | December 12th, 2007 at 9:29 am

hey share, you’re right they were denied a clear penalty but chermiti was taken down in the area as well and there were questions about that one. sure it wasn’t as clear cut as the boca one but still… some refs would have given it. and you’re right they played with ten men and played well with them too. the thing that i am proud about as a tunisian is that we pushed them till the last minutes of the match and could have equalized on more than one occasion. to do this against a club like boca (who i admire and respect) is truly sensational especially since it was done on the world stage. plus people hadn’t seen what etoile were truly capable of in the first match despite their win. there was a sense of injustice amongst many pachuca fans and there probably still is but on the evidence of this match you can say that etoile were worthy of a place in the semi finals. too bad gilson silva didn’t come in earlier, he made things happen. thank you for your input!

Posted from United States

By Boca Into Club World Cup Final - Club World Cup - The Offside - Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the world | December 12th, 2007 at 10:00 am

[...] clubs and more than survived. (If you don’t use a Mac, there are highlights here, and our Tunisia blogger Rami is all over the match, as [...]

Posted from United States

By Share | December 12th, 2007 at 11:48 am

You def should be proud!

Etoile’s performance only enhances the reputation of African club football

Posted from United States

By Moni | December 12th, 2007 at 11:49 am

Typicale Tunisian Style, when you gonna play in full ATTACK ?. Tunisian clubs ore National team will only sucseed I’ve they play Full ATTACK.
Respect for the ESS team and the whole club mangement. The Coach B.M. is a good coach but when playing a Game that you CANT LOSE even if you lose, play Full ATTACK 3 Attacking Midfielders Etoile have the infrastructure to play this way.
Gilson Silva ???? Why let this player on the bench ?????
Creative Midfielder Melliti ?????
ESS played good, but not the level they could reach. But CAF Champions League winners are among the topclubs in the world.

Posted from Netherlands

By Bman | December 12th, 2007 at 5:29 pm

I saw this game, and in the first half i said to myself “This Boca team is really not that much better”

People say Boca didnt play their game today and thus it was close. However maybe the didnt play their game because Etoile would not allow them too with their speed and defensive prowess. Ghazal is a great player and so is Meriah. Is Ghazel on the National team? I think some scouts may come for him and Meriah.

As for Etoile, they lost because they didnt have the firepower, wait sorry didnt use the firepower they had. This goes down to the style of play decided by the coach. In the end, as some people pointed out when Etoile had 3 forwards(Bendhifallah, Gilson Silva, Chermiti) then we had more danger for boca in the final 20 minutes then the whole first half.

I think that Etoile and other Tunisian clubs should be able to play more friendlies against other sides of the world. Too much was on the line for them to ever take risks. I mean a team like AC MILAN or INTER or ROMA is only a 1 hr flight from tunis, why cant these confederations invite each other as guests of honor for a friendly game or a small 4 team tournament.

Why has Boca which half way around the world been able to play against AC Milan more then a top Tunisian team which is so close to ITALY. Teams like LA galaxy which im pretty sure Etoile can handle, travel in the off season, even teams from the premiership travel and play friendly in the pre season in the USA.

I just wonder if Boca and Etoile switched coaches, would Etoile play attacking style?

Sorry if I went of topic but I sure would like to hear peoples opinions. I mean Etoiles defense is quite good, could be world class even, allowing one goal combined against both Pachuca and Boca and absorbing many attacks.

I am secretly hoping an AC milan upset so that Etoile can play them. However if Urawa loose, that could be a tremendous battle and i think Etoile will play more offensive.

Thank you for reading this monster post!! what do you all think?

Posted from United States

By Moni | December 12th, 2007 at 6:45 pm

Yes Mister Yes Yes , I think the tactic system is play-with-one-hand-on-your-balls, don”t get you very far in tournaments. I wouldn”t be surprised if they start again with a defensive midfield line up. Like Lemerre did in WC2006 4-5-1.
About European clubs to play friendlies against Etoile ? hahaha I don”t no, maybe 1nce in 20 years ore something. Like Esperance did against PSG and AS Roma.
European clubs with links in Tunisia are only the French. 4-team tournements iff you have money brother. Money like something between 5 ore 10 miljoen €€€€€ not US $ , €€€€
The whole tunisian Serie A have a money input of maybe maximum 10 000 000 euro.
We are not interrested…
Despite good players, especially if they play at there top wich in my opinion they did not at this tournament at this stage.
Hope that they can in there last game.

Posted from Netherlands

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