Esperance de Tunis president Slim Chiloub expressed "disappointment" following the home defeat to Ghanaian champions Hearts Of Oak (1-2) Saturday in the first leg of the African Champions League final.

"Despite complete domination, Esperance proved unable to translate its numerous opportunities into goals during the first half," he lamented, saying, "victory was in reach".

But Chiboub stated that "in spite of all this, the impossible does not exist in football and anything could happen in Accra on 17 December." Esperance defender Tarek Thabet kept the faith, saying that his team would "able to change the tide of events, thus staging a surprise during the second leg of the final, just as Hearts did in Tunis."

Ghanaian goalkeeper Sammy Adjei declared that he and his mates managed "to create surprise and turn it into victory, thanks to better fitness and strong determination on the part of the team.

He revealed that his side had "made a good analysis of Esperance's strategy, which consisted of a solid collective game. However, their inability to score the many goal chances they had resulted in strong pressure on the local players and, therefore, made the job easier for us, especially during the second half," he said.
Hearts skipper Jacob Nartey said he believed that the strategy his team used proved fruitful, as it disturbed Esperance defence into making "many mistakes that we made good to equalise first and then to tip the scales our way." -