CAF CL 2010

Dynamos - EST: Match Preview


Retrouvailles entre Sang et Or et Glamour Boys ! (Photo CHALA - 31 juillet 2010)
Retrouvailles entre Sang et Or et Glamour Boys ! (Photo CHALA - 31 juillet 2010)

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Une nouvelle tradition sur E-S-Tunis.com : lorsqu'on joue une équipe anglophone comme le Dynamos FC du zimbabwe, on publiera l'article de présentation du match à la une en anglais, avec un lien vers une version française, car les autres nous lisent certainement. Faites nous part de vos avis sur cette initiative.


For this final round of the Orange CAF Champions League 2010 quarter finals (Day 6), Esperance will play Dynamos FC this Saturday at Rufaro stadium in Harare, at 2 pm Tunisian time. Blood and Gold Tunisians, already one of this year's semi-finalists, eye the first place of their group with a view to playing the second leg of the very semi-finals at home in Rades. The same would apply, if they qualify, to the second leg of the final match. In spite of their exit at the quarter final stage, Zimbabwean Glamour Boys target a third place for a better CAF remuneration and, newspaper reports has it, a substantial reward promised by TP Mazembe's President Moise Katumbi Chapwe! The Congolese president's financial largesse casts serious doubts on the credibility of the title won by his team last year. If we add to these practices the threats issued by the Entente de Setif players to let TP Mazembe win in Algeria, we wonder if fair play considerations matter and whether African football could develop or thrive under similar circumstances.

Better protagonists?

With all the malpractices evoked earlier, we hope that the referees will be impartial and prove to be much better actors.

Referee: Mohamadou Mal Souley (Cameroon)
Assistant Referees: Menkouande Evarist and Gambo Abdoulaye (Cameroon)
Reserve Referee: Ottou Mathurin (Cameroon)

Dilemma

Dynamos FC who played TP Mazembe with a depleted squad recover their key players for their last appearance in this year's competition. Coach Elvis Chiweshe will have a wider choice including international goalkeeper Washington Arubi. Esperance coach, Faouzi Benzarti, on the other hand, will have to reconcile the quest for topping Group A with preserving nine of his players who are on a yellow card each and risk picking a second that might mean their missing the first leg of the semi-finals.

Team Lineup

In a must win cup game, Benzarti will not count on key players Wassim Naouara, Walid Hicheri, Syam Ben Youssef, Khaled Korbi and Michael Eneramo for fear they pick a second yellow, as stated above. Youssef Msakni will also miss the match because of injury. Wajdi Bouazzi's expected come back, on the other hand, will be delayed again for he has undergone an unavoidable oft-postponed surgery which will keep him away from football grounds for around three months. We will most likely see the following team lineup:
Ben Cherifia - Ben Amor - Chammam - Derbali - Ben Mansour - Traoui - Toindouba - Afful - Darragi - Ayari - Khalifa.
Those who have so far been second choices for Benzarti have no option but prove their worth with a view to earning themselves places in the semi-finals.

Previous matches

Esperance and Dynamos met in the 1999 premier CAF club event. Esperance won 2 - 0 in Harare and 1 - 0 in Tunis.

In this year's first leg in Tunis, Esperance perpetuated their victorious drive, though not without great difficullty, 1 - 0 (Darragi).

Esperance also played Zimbabwean Highlanders back in 2003 (1 - 1 and 6 - 0).

Dynamos, however, played Etoile of Tunisia twice in 1998 (1 - 0 and 0 - 1) and twice in 2008 (1 - 0 and again 1 - 0)

Ticket Prices

Tickets for VIP will be sold at US$ 10, Upper Grand stand tickets at US$ 5 and the rest of the ground at US$ 3.


Presentation du match en langue française