Penalties galore as nine-man Esperance claim fifth after bad-tempered match against Guadalajara
Esperance de Tunis took fifth place in the Fifa Club World Cup after beating Guadalajara on penalties, despite ending the play-off match with just nine players. Chamseddine Dhaouadi scored the winning penalty – the eighth his side had taken in the shoot-out – having himself been lucky not to have been shown red in a bad-tempered 90 minutes of football.
Just as they had in their quarter-final on Saturday night, Esperance were behind to an early goal. Walter Sandoval opened the scoring for Guadalajara from the penalty spot, after Sameh Derbali fouled Angel Zaldivar, the Guadalajara striker.
Had the kick been taken with minimal delay, the record for the fastest goal in Club World Cup history that had been set just three days earlier by Al Ain’s Mohammed Ahmed against Esperance would have been broken.
However, treatment for Zaldivar, and then referee Matthew Conger’s consultation of the pitch-side video monitor, made for a lengthy delay. Zaldivar was fouled in the first minute. Sandoval eventually took the penalty in the fifth.
Esperance equalised in similar circumstances. Mohammed Belail scored from the penalty sport at the other end in the 38th minute, again following a lengthy delay while a video review was first called up, and then pondered over.
Conger took some while to come to the conclusion that Jose Carlos Van Rankin, the Guadalajara full back, had blocked Franck Kom’s volley from a corner with his arm.
The decision seemed far less clear cut than for the first penalty, but, nevertheless, Van Rankin was also shown a yellow card. And all the delays brought about by the Video Assistant Referee meant there was six minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first half.
For the majority of the second phase, the best action was to be found off the field. Esperance fans were raucous throughout and, as against Al Ain in the first match, provoked the interest of the security staff by lighting flares.
With around 30 minutes to go the atmosphere was amplified by the arrival of scores of River Plate fans, in advance of the late kick off, the semfinal between the Argentines and Al Ain.
The play on the field only really merited attention when Anice Badri, the Esperance forward, was sent off for a foul so far off the ball few knew what had gone on, other than Mark Rule, the assistant referee.
The Tunisian side were lucky not to go down to nine-men when Dhaouadi escaped with a yellow card for a cumbersome foul at a corner on Jair Pereira, the Guadalajara captain.
Their discipline was entirely lost by this point. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Houcine Rebai was showed a straight red card for a reckless two-footed lunge on Isaac Brizuela.
Brizuela, who had also been shown a yellow for the incident that saw Badri given his marching orders, missed the Concacaf champions’ eighth penalty in the shootout.
That gave Dhaouadi the chance to win it for Esperance, which he did to the delight of the African side’s support.