African Champions League: the good health of Hope in Tunis

Text by: Farid Achache Follow

L'Espérance de Tunis will, over the next few weeks, cross paths with the Egyptians of Zamalek, during the Supercup and in the Champions League. The Sang et Or will want to prove that they have their place among the elite of African football.

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Esperance de Tunis, one of the best African clubs, could become the first team to win the Champions League three times in a row. For this, it will be necessary that the Sang et Or, who defeated the Congolese of the AS Vita Club in the eighth, eliminate the Egyptians from Zamalek in the next quarterfinals and continue the course.

Zamalek's coach, Frenchman Patrice Carteron, said that the confrontation promised to be " very disputed " with the current leader of the Tunisian championship.

Gala match in Doha

Just before, still facing Zamalek, there will be another confrontation during a gala match with the Supercup in Doha, Qatar (February 14). Last December, Esperance from Tunis participated in the Club World Cup already in this small Gulf country.

With a clear 6-2 goals win over Qatari club Al-Sadd for fifth place, Esperance became the first team to score six times at the Club World Cup, and won the most big victory in this competition.

Financially at ease in recent years, Espérance de Tunis has taken the gamble of recruiting and training players who then try their luck in Europe. Others have made a passage to bounce back better. Like Anice Badri , born and trained in Lyon, who joined Espérance de Tunis in 2016. He signed up on January 13 with the Saudi club Ittihad FC for two and a half seasons.

Optimal recruitment

Badri, former player of the Royal Excel Mouscron in Belgium, won two Champions Leagues with the Esperantists (2018 and 2019). " L'Espérance offered me a serious sports project and a financially attractive contract, " he said in the columns of the daily Le Monde when he arrived.

To offset Badri's departure, Esperance from Tunis quickly found his replacement in the person of the Algerian international Abderrahmane Meziane. And if half of the holders of last season left, the club continues to chain good results thanks in particular to a recruitment from the Algerian Ligue 1 (Abderraouf Benguit, Abdelkader Bedrane, Ilyes Chetti).

On the African continent, the Tunisian club is also on the front line for the race for awards. Coach Mouine Chaâbeni, who made all his classes as a player at Esperance, was in the running last January for the title of best coach of the year during the CAF trophies against the two CAN 2019 finalists , Aliou Cissé (Senegal) and Djamel Belmadi (Algeria), who finally won. Anis Badri was also in the running for the title of best club player of the year against Tarek Hamed (Zamalek) and Youssef Belaïli (Al Ahly CS). Belaïli, African champion with Algeria, was rewarded.

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