Esperance Brings Arabs Their First Joy
Tunisian club Esperance Sportive de Tunis achieved the first victory for an Arab club in the expanded edition of the Club World Cup, hosted by the United States until July 13, defeating their American opponent Los Angeles FC 1-0 on Saturday morning in the second round of Group D.
The only goal of the match came in the 70th minute through Algerian winger Youssef Belaili.
French winger Denis Bouanga, who plays for Los Angeles FC, missed a penalty kick in the 11th minute of stoppage time, which was saved by Esperance goalkeeper Bachir Ben Saïd.
Esperance recorded its first victory in the current edition after losing 2-0 to Brazilian club Flamengo in the opening round.
Esperance represents the Arab teams in the tournament, along with Saudi club Al Hilal, Egypt's Al Ahly, Morocco's Wydad, and UAE's Al Ain.
Al Ahly played two matches, drawing the first against American club Inter Miami and losing the other against Brazilian club Palmeiras. In contrast, Al Hilal played one match, drawing with Real Madrid. Wydad and Al Ain also played one match, with the former losing to Manchester City and the latter to Juventus.
The "Blood and Gold" team achieved its third victory in the Club World Cup, and its second without penalty kicks.
Their first victory was in the 2018 edition, against Mexico's Chivas Guadalajara, on penalties in the fifth-place match.
The second victory came in the 2019 edition, beating Qatar's Al Sadd 6-2 in the fifth-place match.
The team secured its first three points and finished the round in third place in its group, behind Chelsea on goal difference. Flamengo topped the group with six points, while Los Angeles FC finished last with zero points.