Training Program for Carthage Eagles and CAF Confederation Cup Fixtures

To our knowledge, Coelho has yet to make a faulty decision in Tunis. The program of work below is indicative of his meticulous planning. After media blackout under Lemerre, it’s great to have such a detailed look at what the future holds for the Carthage Eagles.

Assistant coach national team coach, Habib Mejri, who still hasn’t agreed on a salary with the FTF after two weeks of work (!), visited Stade Ben Jannet recently to make sure preparations for the friendly against Angola were going to plan. He also made sure the hotel was up standards and took care of some administrative duties.

Program for Carthage Eagles Angola Friendly:

- August 14th at 11:00 am: Press Conference to reveal list of retained players for friendly. Expect it to be more than the usual 23. Coelho will want to test out as many players as possible in this match as it’s the only friendly before the decisive game in Burkina.

- August 18, at 9:00 am: Press conference by Coelho from 9:00 to 9:30 am followed by question to players from 9:30 to 10:15 am. All players will be available to the media for informal interviews in the conference room of the FTF. At 10:30 the team will depart for Monastir and will train at 6:00 pm in the Stade Ben Jannet. The training will be open to the media. Written press will be in the seats, photographers will have 15 minutes to take pictures before joining their colleagues in the stands. Two players will be available for interviews after training.

-August 19: Training begins at 10:00 am. Two players available for interviews following training. Rest and then another training at 6:00 pm. Two players available after that. It seems strange that they’re doing a double session on the eve of the match but I’m guessing they’re both going to be light and one of them might be dedicated to watching tape.

Confederation Cup Groups:

I’m a little late on this (sorry about that). They were announced earlier in the week.

Group A : Club Africain (Tunisia), Haras Al Houdoud (Egypt), InterClube (Angola), CSSfaxien (Tunsia)
Group B :Al-Merreikh (Sudan), Asante Kotoko (Ghana), Etoile Sahel (Tunisia), JSKabylie (Algeria)

Fixtures (August 15 to October 19):

Groupe A
15-17 August
Haras Al Houdoud vs. Club Africain
CS Sfaxien vs. InterClube

29-31 August
Club Africain vs. CSSfaxien
InterClube vs. Haras Al Houdoud

12-14 September
Haras Al Houdoud vs. CSSfaxien
Club Africain vs. InterClube

19-21 September
CS Sfaxien vs. Haras Al Houdoud
Interclube vs. Club Africain

3-5 October
Club Africain vs. Haras Al Houdoud
InterClube vs. CS Sfaxien

17-19 October
CS Sfaxien vs. Club Africain
Haras Al Houdoud vs. InterClube

Groupe B

15-17 August
Etoile du Sahel vs. Asante Kotoko
Al Merrikh vs. Jeunesse Sportive Kabylie

29-31 August
Asante Kotoko vs. Al Merrikh
JSKabylie vs. Etoile du Sahel

12-14 September
Etoile du Sahel vs. Al Merrikh
Asante Kotoko vs. JSKabylie

19-21 September
Al Merrikh vs. Etoile du Sahel
JSKabylie vs. Asante Kotoko

3-5 October
Asante Kotoko vs. Etoile du Sahel
JSKabylie vs. Al Merrikh

17-19 October
Al Merrikh vs. Asante Kotoko
Etoile du Sahel vs. JSKabylie

Final:

Winner of group A versus winner of group B
Away fixture: 7-9 November
Return fixture: 21-23 November

A few things about the draw:

Taking a look at the team involved, this has potential to be one of the most hotly contested Confederation Cup titles in recent memory. You have last year’s Champions league winners, Etoile du Sahel. The current holders of the Confederation Cup, CSS. The Tunisian league Champions, Club Africain. Champion of Algeria, JSK. Confederation Cup finaliste Al Merreikh of Sudan. Plus the other teams are recognized names in Africa, especially Ashanti Kotoko of Ghana.

Not only that but CSS and CA are in the same group and they play the first and last game against each other. This means that the final game which could be the decider for who goes to the final could be a fiery encounter. Remember, only the first teams from each group goes through to the final. There’s no semis in this competition.

Each team can add players to it’s list of players available in Africa. So far all I’ve heard is that CA added Alexis Enam Mendomo, Hamouda Mâameri, Khaled Melliti et Abdelmoneem Derbali. There were some question about Melliti being cup tied since he came from ESS however since he didn’t play any qualifiers with them he is eligible to play. A big addition for CA in midfield.

Who do you think are the favorites? I’m hoping for an all Tunisian final between Club Africain and Etoile. I don’t think I’m the only one… CSS will have something to say about that. In group B, Al Merrikh is probably the biggest threat to Etoile. Although I have to admit I don’t know much about Asante Kotoko. Traveling Etoile fans will be reunited with JS Kabylie fans that pelted them with rocks when their team lost 5-0 on aggregate to the red devils!

In Other News:

- After a successful time at Bordeaux which ended recently, David Jemmali has signed with newly promoted Grenoble. The player has been widely regarded as on of the best defenders in the Ligue 1 and will bring a lot of experience to this untested squad. A great signing for Grenoble who might be picking up Gharbi from CSS.

- CSS goalkeeper Lotfi Saidi will be out for four to six months. Last week he left the team hotel without authorization and crashed his car on the way home in the wee hours of the morning. People don’t outright say “he was drunk” on the radio but you can tell by how they’re talking about it that he definitely was. After the initial news that he was fine physically, we are now hearing that he will be out for an extended period of time due to an unnamed injury. Maybe they’re sending him to rehab? Whatever the case, let’s hope he gets back to shape soon and takes it easy on the drunk driving… Thankfully for CSS they have two backup goalkeepers (Khaloufi, who had a great game against Platinum Stars last weekend, and Rattouli) that are very promising.

- The Amine Chermiti transfer to Hertha Berlin is still up in the air. If I’m impatient then I wonder how Amine feels! Moez Driss would like more money from Hertha to cover JSK’s 20 percent “formation” fee that was written into his last contract. I’m sure the president in Kairouan can’t wait to get that check! Now if only Driss would let Chermiti go… Infosfoot reports that Hertha have presented their final offer and given Driss a 24 hour ultimatum.

- Seif Ghzal’s coach at Young Boys has been sacked after the Swiss team started out it’s season with two defeats and a draw. The assistant coach will take over as interim head coach. We should keep an eye on this because a hiring of a new coach in the future might mean Ghzal has to prove himself all over again. I’m not worried about him losing his place as he seems to be one of their best defenders but you never know with coaches. They can be fickle…

- Will the Etoile exodus continue? The team from the Sahel has a remarkable history of being a club from which players can complete their moves to Europe but they must strike a balance between selling and remaining competitive in Tunisia. A tricky task to say the least. Especially now that there’s rumors Felhi and Berradhia have offers from France and Germany. Etoile fans shouldn’t worry though as Berradhia is unlikely to leave since Moez Driss said he’s staying at least until next year and Felhi is the team captain presently who showed last weekend how versatile he is by playing as defensive midfielder when his true position is CB. Plus the rumor that has him in Germany seems a little far fetched (Bayern Munich). I don’t doubt that one of our players could make it there one day (Haggui especially) but it seems like a huge jump. Plus the source isn’t exactly credible. Tunisian newspapers seem to be living in a fantasy world sometimes.

Update

The Chermiti transfer saga is over. The ending is different than expected though, instead of a full sale to Hertha, Chermiti will be loaned for 2 years. JSK, his former club, won’t be too happy about this since they were sure to get 20 percent of the transfer price. Now there’s confusion over how much they get and their president is saying that Moez Driss’ actions are not honorable. More on this later when I write a post about the move. Whatever the case, best of luck to Amine!