Etoile du Sahel in English means Athletic/Sport Star of the Sahel and is a Tunisian club that was founded in 1925.
They are based in the city of Sousse – which is 140 kilometres south of the capital Tunis – and play at the 25-000 capacity Olympic Stadium or Stade Olympique de Sousse.
Sahel is the third-most successful club in Tunisia with nine League titles to their name, behind Esperance (26) and Club Africain (13). Pirates’ group opponents Sfaxien have won eight Tunisian League titles.
Sahel have also won 14 other domestic cup competitions in their 90-year history and finished fourth at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2007.
On their way to the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup Final they beat Benfica Luanda, Young Africans and Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca, who had knocked Kaizer Chiefs out of the higher CAF Champions League in earlier rounds.
Prior to the group stages they had lost 2-0 to Raja in Casablanca, but they won the return leg in Sousse 3-0 to eliminate the Moroccans - an indication of their strength on their home ground.
They also whipped Zamalek 5-1 at home in the first leg of their semi-final, which meant they could lose 3-0 in the away leg and still progress. Zamalek, remember, had beaten Pirates 4-1 on their home ground during the group stages.
In fact, Sahel won all seven matches they played at home during their Confederation Cup campaign and scored 14 goals, conceded just two and kept five clean sheets.
They are the only club in Africa to have won every iteration of every CAF-organised tournament.
CAF Champions League
1 (2007)
CAF Confederation Cup
1 (2006)
African Cup Winners' Cup
2 (1997, 2003)
CAF Cup
2 (1995, 1999)
African Super Cup
2 (1998, 2008)