Esperance Sportive de Tunis have arrived in South Africa ahead of their CAF Champions League clash against Mamelodi Sundowns on Friday and midfielder Oussema Bouguerra has said the North African side are focussed and ready to finish the job they started with a 1-0 win in Tunis last weekend.

While Esperance were criticised in some quarters for being overly defensive in the first leg of the semi-final, Bouguerra pointed out that his side were coming into the away leg a goal to the good.

Speaking to the media ahead of their first training session on South African soil he said: “We did well in the first leg in Tunisia and we are here to finish the job. Hopefully we will win and qualify for the final.

“We know this Sundowns team very well, but we also know that we can win here because we have a tradition in this competition, and we are here to win the match.

“When you play for a big team like Esperance, you know that you are going to play in these matches against other top clubs and you are expected to win.”

“The best motivation for any player is to play in the semifinal of the Champions League and all of us hope to progress to the final. That is the dream for all of us in this team.

“We didn’t play differently in Tunisia, but we did our job and that’s why we managed to score a goal at home. Every game has its realities, and we are here to play and finish the match.”

Fellow midfielder André Bukia echoed his team-mates comments. “It is not going to be an easy game, but we are here to win and go to the final. I believe in my team, we are preparing well and we can’t wait for the game that’s so important for us.

“They are a good team with good players, they play good football, and it is going to be a highly competitive match.

“I like their players and they play good football. But it is the same with us, we also play good football and I have full confidence in my team, but we will see what happens on Friday,” he said.

Sundowns versus Esperance kicks off at 8pm on Friday night at Loftus Versfeld.