Esperance Coach Fires Warning Shot To Sundowns
Esperance de Tunis coach Maher Kanzari has issued a stern warning to Mamelodi Sundowns after his side suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Brazilians in the first leg of their CAF Champions League quarterfinals tie.
The Tunisians fell short to Peter Shalulile’s strike from close range, which was enough to see them suffer their first-ever loss to the South African champions after previously claiming three wins and drawing the other match.
Ahead of the second leg set to take place on 8 April in Tunisia, the 52-year-old mentor made a bullish claim, stating that they will outscore Miguel Cardoso’s side with their attacking style of play on home soil and advance to the semi-finals.
“It’s going to be a big game in Tunisia, so if they score one goal, we can score three and go through. We play attacking football, I’m confident that we will go through [because] we are going to play attacking football in Tunisia,” said Kanzari through a translator.
Moreover, Kanzari, who was recently appointed in mid-March, explained the decision to play star player Youcef Belaili out of position at Loftus on Tuesday. The Algerian left winger has scored seven goals and provided eight assists in eight CAF Champions League appearances this season.
“There are some attacking players that are injured, so I rolled the dice and tried to play him as a false no.9. He was sometimes good and sometimes not good, but we conceded a goal which we can say was [due to] a lack of concentration,” he added.
“But we thought that it could have been nil-nil, but as I said, there’s a big game in Tunisia where we will go for a win.”
On the Tshwane giants enjoying a lion’s share of the possession for a prolonged period in the match, the Taraji tactician is adamant possession doesn’t win football matches.
Furthermore, the Tunisian gaffer says Sundowns had nothing to show for their possession in Pretoria except the goal.
“They had the ball on most occasions, but they had no clear-cut chances at goal without the mistake that we made. So, I don’t think that possession defines the game, but in Tunisia, we play a different ball game,” Kanzari continued.
“In the last five or 10 years, we know that Sundowns is a very technical team, yes, but as I said possession is not a key factor to get a result, but we will try to play another game. Yes, they can have the ball, but trust me, in Tunisia we won’t play the same game, we will go and try to win the game and get to the semi-finals.”
