Espérance Sportive de Tunis

Football club infobox
clubname = Espérance ST


fullname = Espérance Sportive de Tunis
nickname = Taraji / Mkachkha (The Grinners) / Abna Bab Souika / The Blood and Golds
founded = January 25, 1919
ground = Stade El Menzah Tunis, Tunisia
capacity = 45,000
chairman = flagicon|TUN Hamdi Meddeb
manager = flagicon|BRA Cabralzinho
league = CLP-1
season = 2007/08
position = 3rd
pattern_la1=_red_stripes|pattern_b1=_red stripes|pattern_ra1=_red_stripes
leftarm1=FFFF00|body1=FFFF00|rightarm1=FFFF00|shorts1=0a0a0a|socks1=0a0a0a
pattern_la2=_blackpanel|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=_blackpanel
leftarm2=000000|body2=000000|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FF0000

Espérance Sportive de Tunis ( _ar. الترجي الرياضي التونسي, also known as EST, taraji, or Espérance) is a sports club based in Tunis, Tunisia. It fields several sport teams in football, handball, volleyball, etc.

It is one of the four most popular and successful teams in Tunisia and was founded on January 25 1919. The Stade Olympique d'El Menzah is the club's home stadium.

History

Mahamed Zaoui and Hédi Kallei founded the club in the café that gave the club its name: the Café de l'Espérance. The "Espérance Sportive de Tunis" was officially registered on January 25, 1919. The first colors of EST were white and green. In 1920, the club hired a young high-school pupil, Chadly Zouiten, who provided the club with a set of shirts with red and yellow vertical stripes. These became the new colors of EST. Zouiten became president of the club in 1923, keeping that position for the next four decades. Under his chairmanship, the EST was mostly neglected, until its promotion into the "Division d'Honneur de Tunis" (Honor Division of Tunis) in 1936. The EST then reached the finals of the "Coupe de Tunisie" (Tunisia Cup), but the club "Stade Gaulois" prevailed. Three years after its defeat by the "Gaulois", the EST team won the 1939 cup after beating the Etoile sportive du Sahel, with a final score of 3 to 1.

Between the beginning of World War II and the independence of Tunisia (1956), the EST was home to a selection of skilled players; the Tunis club welcomed a number of Algerian players like Ben Tifour and Draoua. The EST, a "native Tunisian" football club was now a force the French, Italian and Maltese clubs that had dominated football in Tunisia until then had to take seriously.

After independence, the Esperance became the country's most successful club. The club became popular not only because of the titles it had won (the Champions of Tunisia in 1958 and 1960 and Tunisian Cup winners in 1957) but also because of the team's spectacular and aggressive playing style. In 1963, the team converted from its attack-oriented style after Abderrahmane Ben Azzedine became its coach. Azzedine introduced rigorous defensive principles inspired by Italian football.

Noureddine Ben Fraj had contributed great deal to Esperance, known for his powerful headers. Later Noura took his expertise to Saudi Arabia as a manager of Ohud Club. he later returned to take charge of the youth team.

In the 1970s the club has discovered several great local players, such as Tarak Dhiab, Temime Ben Abdallah later Lahzami, Abdelmajid Ben Mrad,Abdeljabbar Machouche, Abdelkader, Raouf El Meddeb, Kochbati, Torkhani, Mokhtar Gabsi, Ahmed Hammami, El Kamel, Ben Mahmoud, Zoubeir Boughnia famous for his powerful shots at a distance, Ridha Akacha, Adel Latrache, Lassad Dhiab and many more. All these players were picked up from neighbourhood competitions in various district of Tunis, to mention few, Bab Souika, Bab El Khadhra, Rue Essouahel Halfaouine the heart beat of Esperance. Not forget Bab Laasal, Bab Lakwas famous for their love of football.

In the 1990s, the Espérance won all possible titles on the continental level: the African Cup Winners' Cup, the CAF Cup, and the Champions' Cup (now the Champions League) and the African Super Cup, as well as many Arab and Afro-Asian cups.

Since the beginning of the new century, the club has not managed to win any African title, but it has often qualified for advanced rounds in the Champions League and, as of 2005, it has been Champion of Tunisia uninterruptedly for seven years, since 1997. 2007-2008 a new era has started with Mr Hamdi Meddeb as president and Mr Tarak Dhiab at the helm of the football pyramid monitoring the heart of the team, Esperance has triumphed over ESS by winning a record 13th President Cup with an excellent manager as Cabral we can only look forward to a bright future.

Crest

Honors & Achievements

Performance in national & domestic competitions

*Tunisian League (21): ::Champion: 1942¹, 1959, 1960, 1970, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006

*Tunisian President Cup (12):::Winner: 1957, 1964, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008.::Finalist: 1959, 1969, 1971, 1976, 2004, 2005

Performance in CAF competitions

*African Cup of Champions Clubs (1):::Winner : 1994::Runner-up of CAF Champions League: 1999, 2000

*African Cup Winners' Cup (1): ::Winner :1998::Runner-up of CAF Cup Winners' Cup: 1987

*CAF Super Cup (1): ::Winner : 1995::Runner-up of CAF Super Cup : 1999

*CAF Cup (1): ::Winner : 1997

=Performance in UAFA competitions=

*Arab Club Champions Cup (1):::Winner : 1993 ::Runner-up of Arab Club Champions Cup: 1986, 1995

Performance in other international competitions

*Afro-Asian Club Championship (1):::Winner : 1995

¹titles won prior to independence

Players

Current squad

Former personnel

Notable Former Players

::flagicon|Morocco Hicham Aboucherouane

::flagicon|Togo Emmanuel Mathias

::flagicon|TUN Radhi Jaidi::flagicon|TUN Issam Jemaa::flagicon|TUN Hassen Gabsi

elected Former Coaches

::flagicon|BRA Carlos Alberto Cabral 2007

External links

* [http://www.est.org.tn/ Official website]
* [http://www.e-s-tunis.com/ 1^st Supporters website]
* [http://www.taraji.net/ Supporters website & forum]