Club Sportif Sfaxien (CSS) is aiming to break a trophy-less spell as the side which has gone without winning the Tunisian Premier League for close to four years seeks silverware this campaign.
According to Raymond Mendy, the Gambian emphasized the importance of CSS winning this season for a side whose last trophy was the CAF Super Cup in 2014.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“We are working hard to have a trophy this season which is very important for me and lot of CSS young players are competing now,”[/perfectpullquote]
Mendy said.
Already, Sfaxien is in the CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final but the Juventus EL Arab outfit must shove aside last season’s semi-finalists, Morocco’s FUS Rabat, to stay on track to achieve their ambition.
The first-leg played away from Tunis, ended in a narrow 1-0 defeat in Rabat last weekend, a duel that was Mendy’s first appearance in the CC with the left-footed new playmaker featuring full-time.
“It was my first game in the CAF competition. It was a great match with lots of concentration,” he added.
Mendy’s inclusion in the North African Cup derby is a glaring indication of how far he has come from the fringe player he once was five months ago, scavenging for minutes in the first team.
A season-long loan at fellow Ligue Une side Olympique Beja did the trick, with the 21-year-old returning at the end of his deal and walking his way into CSS’s first team. He’s currently the club’s playmaker and has been given the iconic number 10 jersey to match his new status.
Reflecting on his loan journey, he told Ducor Sports from Tunis, [perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Yes it (the loan to Beja) helped me a lot playing in different teams. You get to play a lot and have experience, and in CSS my club, no player is regular to play in the starting line-up.”[/perfectpullquote]
A make or break schedule awaits the side tomorrow as they bid to overturn a 1-0 deficit when FUS Rabat returns visit for the second-leg.
Featured Photo: Club Sportif Sfaxien
