An unprecedented defeat, Maaloul’s resignation, and demands for accountability. <strong>Tunisia-</strong> “I have never seen Esperance with this poor performance, defeatist spirit, and gross inability to save face and respect the club’s heritage.” With these words, Ahmed Al-Mishri, a Tunisian Esperance fan, expressed his feelings as he recalled some of the events of his team’s match against Al-Ahly of Egypt in the first leg of the semi-finals. African Football Champions. In that match, Esperance suffered a severe 3-0 loss at home, to approach the farewell of the African Champions League, amid a state of anger and discontent among the club’s fans, which extended to the players, the coaching staff and officials. Sadness and disappointment And Ahmed Al-Mishri sits in a corner of the cafe that he visits sometimes to watch the matches of his favorite team in the event that it is not possible for him to go to the stadium, and he spoke to Al-Jazeera Net about a feeling of sadness and disappointment after the harsh loss of Esperance, so that the dreams of the team and its fans to qualify for the final match of the continental championship evaporate. And Al-Mashri believes that “the team that collapsed humiliatingly in the Rades stadium did not respect the name of Esperance and disappointed millions of its fans. I will not exclude any of these helpless people, whether players or officials.” However, he added, “But the greatest part of the responsibility for the failure is borne by coach Nabil Maaloul, who came to make a feared and great team, and if he manipulated the nerves of the loyal fans, there must be strict accountability for everyone who offended the history of the blood and gold team.” Ahmed Al-Mishri: It is a loss that Esperance will reach this pathetic situation (Al-Jazeera) Al-Mishri – who is nearly 75 years old – is considered one of the veteran fans of the Esperance club, the most titled Tunisian club, as he experienced many generations and was constantly present in the major matches of his club, whether by sitting in the stands or by watching his favorite club on TV. And in the same cafe where he watched the Taraji and Al-Ahly match, Ahmed points to a picture hanging on the walls of the cafe of former Taraji players, and says, “This team was a source of pride for us. who now wear the club’s shirt.” The spokesman points the finger of blame at the club’s board of directors, which did not provide the means for success, but rather worsened the situation, according to him, adding that “these players are the result of the work and planning of the club’s management, which did not bother to sign players with sufficient experience in African competitions.” He continued, “I have been in love with Esperance for more than half a century, and I have never seen our team in such a state of weakness and decline, and I have never seen players with such a defeatist mentality in my life. It is a loss for the club to reach this pathetic situation.” The heaviest defeat for Taraji The loss against Al-Ahly is considered the heaviest for the club within its bases throughout the history of its continental participation, and was accompanied by a modest performance of the team, which sparked a wave of anger and great disappointment among its fans, who demanded accountability for everyone who caused the “defeat of shame”, as they described it. Tunisia’s Esperance previously lost at home to Al-Ahly, but yesterday’s defeat was the heaviest since the first confrontation that brought the two teams together, in the 1990 edition of the African Cup of Champions Clubs, the old name for the Champions League. Before the return meeting between Esperance and Al-Ahly in Cairo, Friday, May 19, experts and fans of the Red and Yellow Club unanimously agreed that “the team’s task has become impossible to remedy, and it is even threatened with a new defeat.” Esperance fans demanded the dismissal of the coach and the termination of the contracts of a number of players (Al-Jazeera) In addition to the disappointing defeat in the African Champions League, Esperance, the holder of the Tunisian Premier League title in the last 6 years, lived through a crisis of unprecedented results throughout its history, as last Sunday he suffered a loss against his traditional rivals, Club Africain, 3 days after losing to Sfaxien, to retreat To the fifth place in the standings table, and a full 7 points away from the leader, Etoile du Sahel. Criticism of the administration and the resignation of Nabil Maaloul The fans of the Bab Souika team launched a fierce campaign against the head of the football branch, Riyad Belnour, and the first team coach, Nabil Maaloul, demanding that the club president dismiss them and purify the team from those who manipulate its reputation, according to the description of a number of fans who gathered inside a cafe that is usually frequented by Esperance fans, in order to talk about the reality of their club and ways. out of the crisis. Hatem Al-Bakush – a fan of “Red and Yellow” – believes that “Taraji paid the price for the fatal mistakes his coach made, but he was also a victim of misprogramming imposed by the Football Association, which forced the team to undergo a grueling pattern of matches throughout the months of March and April.” And May, which caused the injury of a number of influential players, leaving their absence a major gap, “according to his description. Esperance is the most crowned Tunisian club with titles (Al-Jazeera) During the rain of angry reactions, Tunisian Esperance coach Nabil Maaloul announced – today, Saturday – his resignation, less than 24 hours after losing to Al-Ahly. Maaloul said on his official Facebook page, “I understand the sadness of Esperance and their disappointment after this difficult loss, and I apologize to all the fans for not being able to bring joy last night to the hearts of our ancient fans. In the recent period, the task was not easy for me and the rest of the technical framework and players for several reasons.” explained in the present circumstance. He added, “But I tried with all my power to find appropriate solutions, overcome difficulties and achieve the best possible results, to fulfill the call of duty when my team needed me in a difficult period at the end of last season, and thank God we succeeded in some things and failed in others.” Maaloul continued, “In the interest of the Tunisian Esperance team, I decided to withdraw and submit my resignation to the club’s president, and I call on all the Esperance fans to continue supporting the players in the rest of the journey, in the championship, the cup and the Champions League.” The Esperance administration did not officially comment on Maaloul’s resignation, but the anger campaign continued among the club’s fans, as a number of fans demanded the termination of the contracts of all members of the technical staff, as well as the cancellation of the contracts of a number of players who proved unable to provide the addition to the club despite the successive opportunities they had. . Nabil Maaloul, 61, took over the training of Esperance last June, and succeeded in leading him to crown the local league title, for the 32nd time in his history and the sixth in a row, and this season he also led him to the Tunisian Cup final and the semi-finals of the African Champions League, but the poor results and retreat The performance, as well as the heavy defeat against Al-Ahly, fueled the anger of the fans and forced the coach to resign. Maaloul previously led Esperance to win the African Champions League in 2011 after its victory over Moroccan Wydad, and reached the final of the next edition (2012), but lost the title to Al-Ahly of Egypt.
