By Piers Edwards
BBC Sport |
 Jenayeh has presided over a hugely successful period with Etoile |
The president of Tunisia's Etoile Sahel is nervously hoping that the second leg of Sunday's Champions League final will be the defining moment of his reign.
Under Othman Jenayeh's presidency, the Sousse club has won every major African trophy except the Champions League.
Now Etoile can correct that failure as they take a 2-1 lead into Abuja's National Stadium where they are looking to dethrone Nigeria's reigning African champions Enyimba.
"It will be a great achievement for both Etoile and I should we win this trophy, and afterwards I can take my retirement in peace," the 56-year-old told BBC Sport.
Jenayeh, who supported Etoile as a child and then played for the club for a decade, is due to step down as president in June 2006.
He will be missed though because the club had never won a major African honour before he took charge in 1993.
 | Etoile under Jenayeh 1995: Caf Cup winners 1996: Caf Cup runners-up 1997: Cup Winners Cup winners 1999: Caf Cup winners 2001: Caf Cup runners-up 2003: Cup Winners Cup winners |
Since then, the Tunisian side has reached four Caf Cup finals, emerging victorious in both 1995 and 1999, and won two Cup Winners Cup finals.
Etoile won the last ever Cup Winners Cup twelve months ago (with the competition having since merged with the Caf Cup into the Confederation Cup), and Jenayeh believes that victory on Sunday would confirm his club as one of Africa's best.
"We have reached seven major African finals in ten years, and winning the Champions League would be good confirmation that Etoile have reached a high level in African football," he said.
"We want to put Etoile at the top of African clubs, and we are now building the foundations for a big club."
Etoile Sahel are currently constructing a brand new training camp for its various squads, while a club hotel is also being built.
The hotel business is one Jenayeh knows very well, since he runs his own in Sousse where he is also heavily involved in the tourist trade.
 Kandia Traore celebrates giving Etoile a 2-1 lead against Enyimba |
Despite his current entrepreneurial ways, Jenayeh started off playing for Etoile without being paid.
The striker's club debut at the tender age of 17 in 1967 was the fulfilment of a dream for the boy who grew up in Sousse and first joined the club as a 12-year-old.
"Etoile is a dream from my childhood."
"It is the history of my life until now, and as with all passions it is very hard," the former Tunisia international explained, grabbing his forearm and saying that his passion 'burns' him.
This is why Jenayeh is so apprehensive about Sunday's match, where victory would give him an everlasting legacy as one of Etoile's most successful presidents.
"I dream now for another period of my life where I will see Etoile from the perspective of a former chairman who did a good job for the club, winning many trophies and giving it a good international standing," he said.
The dark spot on Jenayeh's reign is that Etoile have only managed to win one Tunisian championship, which has been dominated by arch-rivals Esperance since the Sousse club last won the title seven years ago.
Nonetheless, both Jenayeh's and Etoile's standing will become much clearer after Sunday's decisive clash.
MMIX
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