Etoile Sahel

Etoile Sahel achieved along held goal of success in the MTN CAF Champions League with a surprise success in 2007, beating Al Ahly away from home in Cairo to take the prize. The Tunisians have appeared in the group phase of the CAF Champions League on four previous occasions, reaching the final in 2004 and 2005.

But it was in the old African Cup Winners’ Cup and CAF Cup that the side from the coastal city of Sousse made their biggest mark, winning both of the continental competitions twice. They appeared in four CAF Cup finals.

They were winners of the 2006 Africa Confederation Cup, beating Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces on the away goal rules.

In 2007, Etoile ended a decade without success in the Tunisian league, having finished runners-up for seven successive seasons. The club has provided many of the north African country’s leading internationals including Zoubeir Baya, who went on to play in the German Bundesliga, and Kaies Ghodhbane, a previous winner of the Arab Footballer of the Year award.

The club was also responsible for the importation of Brazilian-born Clayton and Francileudo dos Santos, who both went on to take Tunisian nationality and play for the Carthage Eagles. Etoile Sahel are coached this season by Lotfi Rhim, who was handed a one-year contract in June.