As the creme de la creme of world football meet in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, 2022, APA gives a lowdown of Africa’s five representatives at the showpiece event. Today we focus on Tunisia.
By Ibrahima Dione
The Tunisian suited and booted delegation was given a grand welcome in Qatar.
The Carthage Eagles’ bus was surrounded by a crowd of cheering fans as it arrived in Doha on Monday evening.
On the way to the hotel, coach Jalel Kadri and his men were accompanied by chants of praise for Tunisia from fans proudly wearing their country’s colours.
“More than 30,000 Tunisians live and work in Doha. The expectations around this team are enormous. Our dream is to see them finally reach the knockout stage of a World Cup,” said Ahmed Adala, a journalist with Mosaïque FM (Tunis).
In their history with the World Cup, the Eagles of Carthage have never reached the Round of 16 in five attempts (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2018).
Yet Tunisia are the first African nation to win a game at the quadrennial tournament.
They were led by Mexico on their debut in Argentina, but turned the match around with goals from Ali Kaabi (55′), Nejib Ghommidh (80′) and Mokhtar Dhouib (86′) to finally win by three goals to one.
The rest is not rosy because the North Africans have only two wins in fifteen World Cup matches.
Winners of the African Cup of Nations at home in 2004, the Carthage Eagles have alternated between the best and the worst in recent years.
They were beaten by Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, but they have been able to get back on track in the qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup.
In the second round of qualifying, Tunisia finished first with 13 points in Group B, which it shared with Equatorial Guinea, Zambia and Mauritania.
In the play-offs, it won the duel of birds of prey against Mali (0-1 in the first leg in Bamako and 0-0 in the return leg in Tunis).
“After the elimination at the AfCON, a new coach was appointed, Jalel Kadri. He is much more pragmatic than Mondher Kebaier, whose assistant he was. Kadri has instilled in his players a new state of mind with rigour, tactical discipline and generosity of effort,” said Abdoulaye Wade Diallo, Tunis correspondent for Sport News Africa.
With 50-year-old Kadri on the bench, Tunisia won the Kirin Cup 2022 (international friendly tournament organised by Japan) by beating Chile (2-0) and the host country (3-0) in the final.
A squad without stars
On the list of 26 Tunisian players called to play in the 22nd edition of the World Cup, none of them eat at the table of Sadio Mané (Senegal), Mohamed Salah (Egypt) or Riyad Mahrez (Algeria).
“This team relies more on the collective. We have leaders like Wahbi Khazri and Youssef Msakni, who missed the last World Cup because of a rupture of the cruciate ligaments in his right knee. We hope to see the Msakni of the great days in Qatar. He is a very talented player who can break the deadlock in key moments of a match. We are also counting on young Hannibal Mejbri, Aïssa Laïdouni, Ellyes Skhiri, Montassar Talbi and Naïm Sliti,” explained Mr. Adala.
For its debut in group D of this World Cup, Tunisia will face Denmark, before facing Australia and then France, the title holders. “It’s a very tough group,” said Diallo, a former journalist with Stades (a Senegalese sports daily).
“But in a championship tournament, all the teams start with equal chances. Four points can sometimes be enough to go through to the second round,” added his colleague from Mosaïque FM.
According to him, “if Tunisia manages to hold Denmark in check, it would be a good result. As for Australia, they can take it. The game against France will be very special because some Tunisian players, dual nationals, were born and raised in France. They will be over-motivated to beat Les Bleus.”
In September, the Carthage Eagles lost a few feathers in a friendly match against Brazil of Neymar (5-1).
On Wednesday, they dominated Iran (2-0) in their final preparation match with goals from Naim Sliti (62′) and Ali Abdi (69′).
“Tunisia, since Jalel Kadri took over, has played nine games for only one defeat. It has scored fourteen goals against five conceded (against the Seleção). A match in which they were reduced to ten in the first half,” said Abdoulaye Wade Diallo.
Under the leadership of the former coach of Stade Tunisien and Club Athlétique Bizertin, the Carthage Eagles hope to make history in their country.
“The demanding, critical and passionate Tunisian public wants their national team to reach the knockout phase of the World Cup,” said Sport News Africa’s correspondent in Tunis since January 2020.
“Everyone is behind this team, even if there has been a debate about the 26 players selected,” Ahmed Adala concluded.
Tunisia’s squad for the Qatar 2022 Word Cup
Goalkeepers: Aymen Dahmen (CS Sfaxien, Tunisia), Mouez Hassen (Club Africain, Tunisia), Béchir Ben Said (US Monastir, Tunisia) and Aymen Mathlouthi (Etoile Sportive du Sahel, Tunisia).
Defenders: Ali Abdi (Caen, France), Mohamed Dräger (FC Lucerne, Switzerland), Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly, Egypt), Wadji Kechrida (Atromitos FC, Greece), Nader Ghandri (Club Africain, Tunisia), Yassine Meriah (Esperance Sportive de Tunis, Tunisia), Bilel Ifa (Kuwait SC, Kuwait), Dylan Bronn (Salernitana, Italy), and Montassar Talbi (FC Lorient, France)
Midfielders: Ellyes Skhiri (FC Cologne, Germany), Ghailene Chaalali (Esperance Sportive de Tunis, Tunisia), Aïssa Laïdouni (Ferencváros, Hungary), Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Esperance Sportive de Tunis, Tunisia), Ferjani Sassi (Al-Duhail SC, Qatar), Hannibal Mejbri (Birmingham, England) and Anis Ben Slimane (Brøndby, Denmark).
Forwards: Youssef Msakni (AL-Arabi SC, Qatar), Seifeddine Jaziri (Zamalek, Egypt), Naïm Sliti (Ettifaq FC, Saudi Arabia), Issam Jebali (Odense Boldklub, Denmark), Taha Yassine Khenissi (Kuwait SC, Kuwait) and Wahbi Khazri (Montpellier, France).
Coach: Jalel Kadri (Tunisia)
Schedule:
Matchday 1: Denmark – Tunisia, Tuesday 22 November, 13:00 (UTC)
Matchday 2: Tunisia – Australia, Saturday 26 November, 10:00 (UTC)
Matchday 3: Tunisia v France, Wednesday 30 November, 15:00 (UTC)
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