A player of Étoile Sportive du Sahel receiving the Man-of-the-match award after their match against Bayern Munich during the Al Kass Cup at Aspire Academy yesterday.
Doha: Étoile Sportive du Sahel (ESS) recorded a memorable victory over an out-of-sorts Bayern Munich on Day 2 of Al Kass, Cup with a powerful and authoritative display that served notice of the Tunisians’ tournament-winning potential.
The 3-2 scoreline flattered the Germans, who were second best throughout, and were reliant upon two face-saving goals in added time to prevent a three nil thumping.
ESS set the tone for a dominant display from the kick-off, and almost took the lead inside two minutes when the ball fell to Oussama Abid, whose weak shot could not trouble Bayern keeper Manuel Kainz.
Unfortunately, Kainz was deeply troubled 20 minutes later, when his astonishing gaffe gifted the opener to Sahel.
There appeared to be little danger when a free kick was swung in from wide on the left, and the Bayern number one rose highest to claim a routine catch, only for the ball to somehow slip through his fingers.
Tunisian defender Koussay Rejeb gleefully accepted the unexpected gift, slotting into an empty net from all of three yards.
It is often said that the mark of a top-class keeper is the ability to recover rapidly from adversity. If this is the case, then Kainz is surely destined for greatness. It soon became clear why he is team captain, as he showed great fortitude just minutes after his bizarre blunder to prevent the Tunisians from doubling their advantage.
A corner swung in from the right was met firmly by ESS midfielder Nassim Khadher, who planted a firm header that looked destined for the bottom corner, only for the German keeper to get down brilliantly and keep the effort out.
