Tunisia 1-1 Peru: Confirmations and Question Marks

March 1st, 2012 | by: Rami | View Comments

With this being the only FIFA date between now and our first 2014 World Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea on June 1st, Sami Trabelsi deployed a somewhat experimental lineup yesterday against a Peru side featuring all of its European-based stars.

The formation, 4-3-3, was the same one that showed the most promise at the 2012 Afcon in our matches against Gabon and Ghana.

Once again, Jamel Saihi thrived in his position. The Montpellier player showcased his technical ease in conserving possession and delivering clean passes to his teammates with minimal fuss. As excellent as he is with the ball at his feet, Youssef Msakni could take a page out of Saihi’s book when it comes to pass selection and timing.

Another midfielder who shined yesterday was our goalscorer, Wissem Ben Yahia. Though seldom used under Trabelsi, the Mersin representative has always risen to the occasion when offered his few chances and this was a prime example of that. His goal was a thing of pure determination and he could have had more on some well taken free kicks. This much is clear, Ben Yahia is ready to make a real impact at national team level. Whether he will or not will depend on his form and our coach’s decisions going forward.

One aspect of the Ben Yahia playing time equation is whether Trabelsi will stick with Majdi Traoui in the destroyer position, a position we saw him in for the first time against the Peruvians. Though he did his best, and saved us from a certain goal with a last ditch tackle in the first half, that experiment was inconclusive. Plus, Hocine Ragued is much better suited for such a role and proved it in Gabon.