Espérance vs. Étoile Cup 1/4 Final Preview

By: Houssem | April 14th, 2009

The Cup and Étoile, that’s not exactly a love story. The last time we lifted the Princess – as Tunisians affectionately call it – was in the 1995/96 season, when we won the double with our legendary 90’s team. Since then, we only had two final appearances – 2001 against Hammam-Lif and 2008 against Espérance. Every year that goes by makes me think that we are the Liverpool of the Tunisian cup.

Drawing Espérance away in the quarters is never funny, but having to play them in such difficult circumstances is even less funny. After reducing our title chances to next to nothing, our only hope remaining hope for a domestic title is the cup.

After the defeat to Club Sfaxien, it’s obvious that some changes need to occur in order to make the team stand on the right foot again. Rohr will have to make new choices, and here’s an idea of what these may be.

Bassem Boulâabi has apparently been doing pretty well in training, and should consequently team up with Radhouene Felhi in central defense, with Ammar Jemal still under his 4 match ban. Everson will miss due to a third yellow card, so Nafkha will probably start in midfield and hopefully be productive on free-kicks, assuming that we get enough of them.

With Ben Dhifallah and Hamdi Mabrouk still a doubt, it’s not unlikely to see Tembo Fwayo in the starting XI after some time with the reserves. There’s also talk of Adnene “Daina” Raddaoui, a 20 year old promising ESS grown offensive midfielder, in the starting XI as well, but I wouldn’t get too excited about it. The first thing we need in this sort of match is experience, that’s why I’d rather see Mossâab Sassi or Mejdi Mosrati, despite his poor form lately.

Other than that, the players certainly know that they HAVE to win this game, not only to regain some support, but also to get more confident ahead of our CAF Champions League clash against Al Ahly of Tripoli. Apparently, chairman Moez Driss has promised them a substantial and “exceptional” bonus if they make it to the semis. It’s only up to them now.

Quick word on the ref who has been picked for this game : Eric Braamhaar from the Netherlands, who is famous for looking rather happy after Ajax scored a goal against PSV in the 2006/2007 Eredivisie season :

happy ref