US Monastir (USM) is known internationally for their basketball traditions at the local, regional, and international levels. Their recent spectacular football victories in the CAF Cup confirm the team’s rising footbll star at the continental level.
The team has constantly played in Tunisia’s top league, known as “Ligue 1,” leaving it occasionally to come back very quickly, but what distinguishes their performance over the last few years is that the Monastirians started challenging Tunisia’s “Big 4,” while embarrassing some of Africa’s toughest in the continental competitions, proving that their 5-star performance is no fluke.
In the 2019-2020 season, US Monastir managed to win the Tunisan Cup and Super Cup, which allowed them to play in the African CAF Cup in the next season. There, they embarrassed Morocco’s giant Raja Casablanca by defeating them in the home game (1/0), thus forcing them to qualify through penalty kicks.
The most spectacular performance came last season when USM challenged the African and Arab Giant Espérance Sportive de Tunis until the final day of the Tunisian championship, while Espérance’s traditional rivals in the country kept a low profile.
As runners-up in the Tunisian championship, USM could participate in this season’s African Champions League. Colliding with Al-Ahly of Egypt, Africa’s most crowned team, the USM were kicked out by a twist of luck from the early rounds into the CAF CUP.
It is in this competition where the Monastirians are conquering Africa’s football. In the preliminary stages, the kicked out the defending champions Barkane of Morocco.
Recently, in the group stage, they managed to defeat Young Africans of Tanzania at home and to snatch a 1-1 draw against Real Bamako of Mali at the end of their away game, thus jumping to the first place of their group ranking.
