Africa giants Esperance de Tunis and Zamalek lock horns in the Qatari capital Doha in one of the biggest club competitions. The 2020 CAF Super Cup is a tie between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.
The Blood and Gold clinched the Champions League title for the second year in a row against Wydad Casablanca, while Zamalek won the Confederation Cup for the first time in their history defeating RS Berkane in the final.
The Tunisian giants should brace themselves for an onslaught in the match against four-time Super Cup winners Zamalek at the Thani bin Jassim Stadium.
Zamalek are out to prove that they did not belong in the second-tier contest and one thing is for sure is that it will be more than just a football battle when the two sides meet.
The two are not only fighting for dominance in the North African football; they have a score to settle on other fronts.
Esperance and Zamalek have met in six games in the African Champions League in which the later won twice, lost once, and drew three times.
The match will also go into history as it marks second consecutive CAF Super Cup match that gathers Esperance coach Moine Chaabani and Zamalek’s manager Patrice Carteron.
The Frenchman was the coach of Morocco’s Raja Casablanca when they won last year’s edition, defeating Esperance 2-1 in Doha.
However, it will be a different game this Friday and coach Carteron is well aware of the task ahead and had this to say;
“It is difficult to talk about our readiness for this important match because we play a game every three days. We did not prepare specifically for this match, but we are ready. The players are motivated to play the game. We are so happy to be here,” Carteron said yesterday.
“I have a lot of respect for the Esperance team and their coach. I have seen the coach keep the Esperance team at a very high level despite the changes at the level of players and this confirms the quality of his work ethic. For sure this match will be excellent and I am happy to face Esperance again,” he added.
In hunt of goals, Egyptian international and leading goal scorer Mostafa Mohamed will be the key man. He is only 22-years-old but already there are signs that he has a big future in the game.
As Esperance aim to win the CAF Super Cup for the second time in their history after previously winning the event in 1995, they are aware that Zamalek is one of the best teams in Africa.
“Zamalek is a great team, they are five times African champions. But we are the last two seasons’ champions and a great team as well. It’s going to be an interesting duel,” Esperance gaffer Chaabani said in an interview posted on Cafonline.com
“We are not thinking of our CAF Champions League encounter now, all that’s in our minds is the Super Cup game,” the coach added.
On paper, Esperance look stronger than Zamalek but Chaabani has cautioned his charges not to be overconfident since surprises are very real in the game of football.
“I warned my players that this is not going to be an easy game. We have to take the lessons from what happened last year when we lost to Raja in Doha,” Chaabani said of last year’s final.
“Esperance hasn’t won this cup since 1995. We will give our best to return home with the trophy this time,” Chaabani concluded.
Experience in major African tournaments could be the decisive factor for Esperance de Tunis who won back to back CAF Champions League titles in 2018 and 2018/19.
