Esperance coach Beaumelle cries foul after Champions League exit

Africa 21 April 2026 at 07:05

Hlayisani Magoro

News Editor

Esperance de Tunis head coach Patrice Beaumelle has cried foul over the penalty awarded to Mamelodi Sundowns in the CAF Champions League semi-final over the weekend.

The Tunisian giants bowed out of Africa's premier club competition after a 2-0 aggregate defeat to Masandawana, with Brayan Leon responsible for the goals both home and away.

Leon converted from the spot in Pretoria after forcing experienced goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said to commit a foul in the box, thanks to his relentless pressing.

Beaumelle, however, is not convinced with the call to award the penalty, labelling it as a ‘stupid decision’ that killed the high-stakes encounter.

“I would like to congratulate the boys for their efforts, they respected the game plan. I think in the beginning we were controlling the game here in Sundowns which is never easy. They did exactly what we planned so for that I just want to congratulate them,” said the Frenchman.

"And then one stupid decision changed the game and then when you're running after the game, the score is quite difficult. You have to adapt, to change your mind to try to do some substitutions to score as fast as possible.

"But I think it was a tough game, all the players from my side and from Sundowns did the maximum, I think it was a very tense match and I just want to congratulate all the athletes because at the end of the day it was a fantastic game, a real game of Champions League in the semi-final, unfortunately some people killed the game.

The former Angola national team boss reckons his side stood a better chance of overturning the deficit prior to the penalty that changed the complexity of the match.

“I saw the penalty on the video, Leon came to put pressure and did well. He put the head but took out the head, of course, the goalkeeper cannot lose the striker and let him go in the goalpost, but for me it's a disaster of a decision for football - you kill the game,” Beaumelle added.

"And we did well, we continued playing and trying to push, we made a lot of efforts and that's it. I think in nil-nil we were still in [the game] and one goal we would play penalties maybe, we never know in football.

"As I said, sometimes in the last seconds there's a corner or a situation but today unfortunately we didn't score, but the penalty affected a lot because it's not fair to be honest.