It was a frustrating beginning to the match for our team and fans alike. As the players struggled to cope with the Sierra Leone’s pressure while Tunisian viewers sat around impatiently waiting for a feed of pitiful quality that didn’t arrive until past the midway point of the first half.

Instead of the highly anticipated game, we were treated to endless mumbo jumbo by Mahmoud Ouertani and Skander Kasri.

It’s not everyday that you hear guys talking about the importance of not conceding an early goal without knowing that we’ve already done so…

We survived the first half and came out a different team after Sami Trabelsi gave his men an earful in the dressing room. Knowing his composed style, it probably wasn’t too agressive but incisive and to the point. While we were still subjected to plenty of slips and tumbles, there was clearly a renewed intent to hold onto possession and build attack patiently instead of punting the ball upfield.

On came Darragi for Saihi to further improve our ball conservation. The move worked wonders as the FC Sion playmaker created both our goals with his ability to see the telling pass and execute it. While his performance and that of Gharbi’s were exceptional, that of Jemaa and Balbouli were the complete opposite. The latter nearly cost us the game, once again raising the question of whether or not it’s time to turn to Ben Cherifia or Ben Mustapha permanently. And what can we say about Jemaa that we haven’t already? The man is an enigma.

Considering the state of the pitch, the blatant refereeing mistakes, and how this match began, a 2-2 away draw in Freetown is a very positive result. We have every chance of progressing when we meet the same squad on October 13. Let’s just hope that we don’t need to wait so long to play to our real level once again. Full credit to our players for staying committed, especially after the second goal. Other editions of the Carthage Eagles might have relented, but not the Trabelsi-led version!

To see the goals, check Tunisia World Cup Blog’s Facebook page.

Goalkeepers: Aymen Mathlouthi (Etoile), Farouk Ben Mustapha (CA Bizertin), Moez Ben Cherifia (Esperance)

Defenders: Aymen Abdennour (Toulouse), Walid Hichri (Esperance), Bilel Iffa (Club Africain), Anis Boussaidi (FC Rostov), Aymen Belaid (Etoile), Rami Bedoui (Etoile), Chamesdine Dhaouadi (Etoile), Fateh Gharbi (CS Sfaxien)

Midfielders: Nour Hadhria (CA Bizertin), Anis Ben Hatira (Hertha Berlin), Oussama Darragi (FC Sion), Jamel Saihi (Montepellier), Khaled Mouelhi (Esperance), Majdi Traoui (Esperance), Wissem Ben Yahia (Mersin), Chadi Hammami (Kuwaiti)

Strikers: Issam Jomaa (Kuwaiti), Saber Khelifa (Evian), Hamdi Harbaoui (Lokeren), Youssef Msakni (Esperance)

Gone are Ammar Jemal, Iheb Mbarki, and Khalil Chammam. In come Aymen Belaid, Chamsedine Dhaouadi, Rami Bedoui, and Walid Hichri. While the first two were selected for the recent Iran friendly (which I unfortunately haven’t been able to see for lack of a recording), Bedoui is getting his first callup and Hichri has been in and out of the roster for some time now.

On skill alone, it’s not surprising that these players have been included but their lack of international experience is a minor worry for such a crucial match. Nevertheless, with Aymen Abdennour and Bilel Iffa manning the middle (Ifa’s place being slightly less secure), we should have a solid reference point. Plus this isn’t Boussaidi or Gharbi’s first trip to sub-saharan Africa. I see Boussaidi starting but perhaps Belaid will get the nod ahead of Gharbi? One can be sure that Trabelsi didn’t bring the inexperienced players aboard as a favor.

Further up the field, Khaled Mouelhi has gotten a rare invitation (his first in five years apparently). Perhaps this is unsurprising given his performances for Esperance but notable in that he’s an older player who’s essentially replacing a youngster, Hatten Baratli, in the team. It’s unlikely that he’ll start but he could be a good late game substitution if we have a result we want to hold onto. The rest of the midfield features the usual suspects of recent Carthage Eagles iterations.

Meanwhile, despite his goal for Hertha Berlin, Sami Allagui has been dropped. This is probably because, as of yet, he’s failed to replicate his club form while wearing a national team jersey. Trabelsi, who has called him a “question mark” on prior occasions, seems intent on sending our German expat a message by overlooking him. Let’s hope it has the desired effect because he has qualities that we can benefit from when he’s at top form… especially if him and Ben Hatira keep developing their chemistry at club level.

After a closer look, the list isn’t as strange as it initially seems. Trabelsi hasn’t steered us wrong yet so let’s just hope he continues to improve the squad and brings back a precious win from Freetown. Inshallah marbou7a!

Aside for the confusing omissions of Moez Ben Cherifia, Aymen Balbouli, and a deserving Hamza Ben Younes, the squad looks solid and our coach’s decisions appear reasonable.

Hamdi Kasraoui’s recall looks like more of a morale boost for the want-away Lens second string keeper than anything else. It’s a nice gesture from Trabelsi on a personal level but it’s far from thrilling on a competitive one.

The same can’t be said for Farouk Ben Mustapha’s return. He’s done enough at club level to be worthy of his place. Other notable returnees are Ousamma Darragi, who’s starting and assisting in practically every match for FC Sion thus far, and Iheb Mbarki who also looks to have nailed down a starting spot at Evian alongside Saber Khlifa and Zouhaier Dhaouadi.

Goalkeepers: Farouk Ben Mustapha (CAB), Hamdi Kasraoui (Lens)

Defenders: Aymen Abdennour (Toulouse), Bilel Ifa (CA), Anis Boussaidi (FC Rostov), Khalil Chammam (EST), Chamseddine Dhaouadi (ESS), Fateh Gharbi (CSS), Ammar Jemal (Young Boys), Iheb Mbarki (Evian)

Midfielders: Nour Hadhria (CAB), Wissem Ben Yahia (Mersin), Hatten Baratli (CA), Youssef Msakni (EST), Oussama Darragi (FC Sion), Chadi Hammami (Kuwaiti), Anis Ben Hatira (Hertha Berlin), Jamel Saihi (Montpellier)

Strikers: Issam Jemaa (Kuwaiti), Hamdi Harbaoui (Lokeren), Sami Allagui (Hertha Berlin), Saber Khelifa (Evian)

While Zou missed out on this list, another Dhaouadi got his inaugural call-up. The Etoile defender will look to make an impression in training and plant a seed in Trabelsi’s mind that he can be useful in the long term. Bassem Boulaabi had a good first showing for the NT that ended in injury so there’s no reason Chamseddine can’t shoot for a similar performance, minus the broken clavicle of course.

At this point, no one should be that surprised that Chadi Hammami and Issam Jemaa remain in the team despite their moves to a less glamorous destination in Kuwait. They can still be useful to us so long as they stay in top physical shape. Otherwise, we may have to start looking elsewhere.

Anyone who was hoping that this game would signal the recruitment of Saphir Taider, Wissam Ben Yedder, and/or Wahbi Khazri will be left slightly disappointed. Contacts with them are reportedly ongoing and I’m sure that if Trabelsi hasn’t called them up then he must have his reasons. Also, too bad Lassad Nouioui is still looking for a club. Last I heard, Besiktas were interested. If he was already settled there by now, I bet he’d be on this list.

With that, I think we’ve covered up pretty much all the bases except for mentioning Abdelkader Oueslati. We definitely need to keep an eye on his performances at Atletico Madrid this year. After all, you can never really have enough good strikers…

In Other News

Here’s our junior team that will travel to Gabon to try to overturn a 2-2 draw in Tunisia against the Scorpions in U20 Africa Cup of Nations qualification: Seif Lahwel, Achraf Jelassi, Oussama Lahssini, Youssef Trabelsi, Haythem Jouini, Seif Jaziri, Zied Ounelli, Idriss Mhirssi, Sadok Kraiem, Imed Louati, Radhouane Khalfaoui, Ibrahim Naili, Adam Rejaibi, Mortadha Ben Ouannes, Chiheb Ben Fraj, Zied Machmoum, Seifallah Meskini, Mohamed Jendoubi, Achraf Manai, Fehmi Kacem, Ali Abdi.

That one isn’t going to be easy at all as we basically need to win outright to advance or score two goals or more in a draw.

We already knew that they were in our 2014 World Cup qualifying group and that they currently trail us by two points after two matches ahead of a very important home game on March 22. That’s when we’ll host them and have a chance of widening the gap.

Things took a turn recently though as the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying draw was held on July 5 and who else but Sierra Leone popped up against us. That means that we’re set to face Lars Olof-Matsson’s side twice before the big WC qualifier in games that will determine who makes it to South Africa come January. The first of said matches will be played on September 7, 8, or 9 and the return leg (in Tunis) will be played on October 12, 13, or 14.

The good thing about the 2013 Afcon qualifying draw is that we managed to avoid tricky matchups against Libya and Senegal. I was personally kinda hoping we’d face Mozambique so that we would have a chance at 2010 World Cup qualifying payback but it was not to be. Some other time maybe.

Thankfully, we’re looking pretty good these days, even without the services of Dhaouadi (who just transferred to Evian), Darragi (who’s showing flashes of his old self in FC Sion’s preseason matches), and Chikhaoui (don’t get me started!) but there should be no underestimating Sierra Leone who have shown on prior occasions that they can cause even the best African sides plenty of problems (they tied Egypt 1-1 in Cairo in 2012 Afcon qualifying). Nothing to be afraid of, but nothing to dismiss either. That’s basically what coach Sami Trabelsi was saying when he heard the news.

Ours was difficultly earned during a trip to Praia where we faced a stubborn Cape Verde team that put a lot of pressure on our backline by using long balls over the top of our makeshift defence. The tactic succeeded once and earned them an equalizer but, in the end, we procured ourselves enough opportunities to win this match twice over, especially in the second half.

It wasn’t an exceptional performance by any means but you get the sense that this team is going places. Good places, that is! Unlike what we’ve seen in the past, when we conceded the equalizer, there was no fatalism on the part of our players. We fought back just like we had in the first match against Equatorial Guinea where we let in a soft goal against the run of play. While the players certainly deserve credit for this, it all trickles down from our coach who has given us a much more positive mentality since he took over.

Some doubt his selection choices when it comes to Aymen Mathlouthi and Issam Jemaa, amongst others, but he tends to be on point with his substitutions and tactical modifications. We consistently come out of halftime a more focused and motivated team. He inserted Hammemi and Harbaoui in the first game and both scored. He then inserted Ben Yahia in this game and the Mersin midfielder came extremely close to doing the same. Plus adding Bouazzi to the mix gave us more control of the midfield at a time where we needed that extra bit of ball conservation in the face of Cape Verde’s attempted comeback.

Regardless of how we achieved this valuable win, we can rest easy until March 2013. That is when 2014 World Cup qualifying picks up again. We’ll be facing Sierra Leone at home, with an opportunity to create some good distance between us and them ahead of our trip to Freetown. In the meantime we’ll have 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against a yet to be decided opponent (the draw for that is on the 4th of 5th of July) and friendlies. Speaking of which, Trabelsi may have lined up a test against Switzerland for November 1st. That would be some quality opposition.

If you missed the match, you can watch the entire thing below:

First Half

Second Half

Update

The change in fortunes from our national team from half to half is down to two things: A switch in formation and a key substitution. They actually went hand in hand so you could think of it as one modification that made a huge difference. Facing a resolute and dense Equatorial Guinean midfield, the 4-4-2 employed in the first half wasn’t giving us enough width to spread the opposition, especially in light of our player’s desire to score as quickly as possible disintegrating into a direct playing style that is not our own. By taking out a midfielder in Wissem Ben Yahia at halftime and inserting a powerful center forward in Hamdi Harbaoui, our coach switched to a 4-3-3 that instantly created space for us to exploit.

Some might rightly question why Sami Trabelsi didn’t go with our best formation and lineup from the start but ultimately he recognized his mistake and didn’t stubbornly begin the second period with the same team as some other managers might have done.

Also, to be fair, if Saber Khelifa’s goal in the first hadn’t been wrongly taken away, the game would have been much different. The Nzalang Nacional would have had to venture further forward as a team, a situation in which the 4-4-2 would have worked well.

Furthermore, playing with the wind at our backs in the first half seemed to adversely affect the player’s decision making. Instead of keeping the ball down and then shooting from distance to rely on the wind as an advantage, the player’s resorted to punting the ball forward to Issam Jemaa and Saber Khelifa without much thought to the consequences. Once the second period began, doing so wasn’t a viable option anymore with the wind against us and our trademark short passing returned. With Anis Ben Hatira playing a more central role within the 4-3-3 and behind our three attackers, the ball stayed low and moved around swiftly.

More post game analysis and interviews on the latest Soui3a Foot and Dimanche Sport. The discussion between Nabil Maaloul and Sami Trabelsi in the latter is mandatory viewing, especially the part about Jemaa’s value to the NT. Some people will still disagree but I think both coaches made good arguments in support of the Carthage Eagles’ all-time leading scorer. I also appreciated that Jemaa raised his hand in apology to the impressive Monastir crowd when he got subbed off for the many chances he missed. Much better than what happened the last time he got some rough treatment from our fans!

About our trip to Cape Verde

We fly out on Thursday and will be without Jamel Saihi, who scheduled his marriage for the same date as the match long before the 2014 WCQ schedule came out. Youssef Msakni should be back and it will be interesting to see what happens with the lineup. Update: Msakni is out with a thigh injury still. I’m guessing he’ll come on as a substitute and that Chadi Hammemi will replace Saihi in midfield.

And just for fun: Oooh ya banana

While the Wasps aren’t exactly the toughest African opponent we could’ve picked, they did recently hold Nigeria to a goalless draw in the first leg of their 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixtures. With the Super Eagles falling on tough times, that may not necessarily be saying much. Nevertheless, to perform as we did yesterday is certainly a cause for optimism.

Besides for a brief mental lapse that gave the visitors their consolation goal in the second half, our team put forth the most sustained period of pressure and possession that we’ve seen in a very long time. Despite not being in his best form, Jamel Saihi pulled the strings in midfield alongside Wissem Ben Yahia and Chadi Hammami.

Sami Allagui still didn’t produce everything we expect from him but fought hard and was an improvement over his mediocre 2012 Afcon self. The real bright spots were undoubtedly Saber Khelifa and Hamdi Harbaoui, both of whom were a constant source of danger, especially the former with his intelligent runs on the flank and crosses into the box.

Unfortunately, another top performer, central defender Bassem Boulaabi, suffered a broken clavicle and will definitely miss out on our 2014 World Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea on June 2. Then there’s a reported injury to Youssef Msakni that might see him sidelined as well… Thankfully, after what we saw from Anis Ben Hatira yesterday, we may be fine without the Lille transfer target.

If Bilel Ifa doesn’t come back in time though, we may see a Walid Hichri and Ammar Jemal combo in central defence, which is far from the best we can put forward in my opinion. Would much rather have just stuck with the complementary Boulaabi/Jemal combo or an Ifa/Jemal one but we may not have that luxury.

It’s a bit too early to talk about that though as we’ll know more about our injury situation as the week goes on and our players continue to tune-up in our training camp. Sameh Derbali and Fateh Gharbi did their jobs yesterday but few would probably argue that we could do with some much better options at those positions, especially the right side considering we have Khalil Chammem joining the group today. Even without the often injured Yassine Chikhaoui, our midfield is looking solid and our attacking options are better than they have been in a while too.

Let’s just hope that whatever team Sami Trabelsi picks for our qualifiers performs to its true potential like it did yesterday. And let’s also hope that we keep getting good turnouts for national team games because yesterday was a prime example of how big a difference a positive crowd can make!

On Monday, Sami Trabelsi announced a 26-man roster for our 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Equatorial Guinea (June 2 in Monastir) and Cape Verde (June 8 in Praia).

Not only is the squad experimental in nature but we won’t even benefit from proper preparation (what’s new?) for these hugely important matches given that Club Africain, Esperance, CA Bizertin, and Etoile’s players are all participating in delayed LP1 matches on May 27, the same day we face Rwanda in a friendly. It wouldn’t be Tunisian to have no scheduling conflicts though, would it?

Goalkeepers: Moez Ben Cherifia (Esperance), Hamdi Kasraoui (RC Lens), Aymen Mathlouthi (Etoile)

Defenders: Bassem Baoulabi (AS Marsa), Anis Boussaidi (SC Tavrya), Khalil Chammam (Esperance), Sameh Derbali (Esperance), Fateh Gharbi (CS Sfaxien), Walid Hichri (Esperance), Bilel Ifa (Club Africain), Ammar Jemal (Koln)

Midfielders: Haten Baratli (CA Bizertin), Anis Ben Hatira (Hertha Berlin), Bilel Ben Messaoud (AS Marsa), Wissem Ben Yahia (Mersin), Nour Hadhria (CA Bizertin), Chadi Hammami (CS Sfaxien), Jamel Saihi (Montpellier), Majdi Traoui (Esperance), Wajdi Bouazzi (Esperance), Youssef Msekni (Esperance)

Strikers: Sami Allagui (Mainz), Hamdi Harbaoui (Lokeren), Issam Jemaa (Brest), Saber Khlifa (Evian), Lassad Nouioui (Deportivo La Coruna)

The club vs. country issue means that only 15 players can take part in the matches against the Wasps, which is far from ideal but not in any way fatal. We’re also having to contend with Karim Haggui’s sudden international retirement, Aymen Abdennour’s suspension, and a rumored recurrence of patella inflammation to Yassine Chikhaoui… The latter is undoubtedly the most concerning but at this point I think we’ve all learned to think of Chikha as a bonus rather than a pillar of the team we’re trying to build. Sad but true.

As far as I’m concerned, the best looking name on this list is Nour Hadhria, who’s been having a solid season at CAB under his former U17 coach Maher Kanzari. I say that because he’s a playmaker who softens the blow of the Chikhaoui injury. The question is can he pick up where he left off at youth level and translate his skills into senior team success? It’ll be interesting to see him link up with Youssef Msekni once more as well after a long and now seemingly unwarranted period of inactivity at Club Africain. If they can recapture the magic that took us to our first second round appearance at an official Fifa tournament then we could be onto something special.

CAB’s impressive LP1 outings have also earned Haten Baratli a recall, a player who in retrospect perhaps should have gone to the 2012 Afcon to get a taste of African competition to prepare him for these games. With the benefit of hindsight, we know that would have averted the Adel Chadli debacle but what’s done is done. Another returnee is Chadi Hammami, who has always been on the fringes. Can’t say that I’ve seen much CS Sfaxien matches this season to know how useful he’ll be but, if anything, he’s a squad player who’ll work hard in training and push teammates to perform better.

AS Marsa duo Bassem Boulabi and Bilel Ben Messaoud are thriving under Gerard Buscher and also make it into the list. I wouldn’t say it’s surprising since Trabelsi has shown a willingness to test new deserving players but their inclusion could be considered a bit risky considering how high the stakes are in our 2014 WC qualifiers. Then again, risky moves aren’t necessarily a bad thing.

Hamdi Harbaoui also receives his first senior side call-up. If he hopes to feature in qualifiers, he’ll have to take his chance during our Rwanda friendly but it looks like a stretch for him to unseat any of Saber Khlifa, Issam Jemaa, or Sami Allagui in attack. He could move ahead of Allagui in the depth chart though if he does well because our Mainz representative had a pretty brutal Afcon. Harbaoui is 27 and you always wonder that if he didn’t merit a call-up until now then what were other coaches missing? I guess we’ll find out.

I will say that overlooking Hamza Younes, who’s doing much better than I ever thought he would during his time abroad is headscratcher. It seems like this would be the ideal opportunity to test him but there may be more issues at play here. Lassad Nouioui also misses out since he has important matches to play with his club. Finally, another prominent name who isn’t on the list is Zouhaier Dhaouadi who pays the price for the lack of stability at Club Africain and his own mishandling of his transfer/contract negotiations.

He’ll be back eventually but it’s good to see that Trabelsi doesn’t hold a grudge and called up Wajdi Bouazzi as a replacement despite the player calling him out in the press. Bouazzi did well during our Chan 2011 qualifiers under our coach and there’s no reason he can’t do it again.

Anyways, there’s much more to talk about… What do you think of the list? Who did you want to see that didn’t make it?

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.

While he didn’t get that much playing time, Anis Ben Hatira’s first outing for the Carthage Eagles was acceptable. Let’s hope he plays his way into the starting lineup at Hertha Berlin so that we can see his true level in the future. Even in his lessened form, he played decently yesterday. We need more than that come June though.

Unfortunately, Lassad didn’t quite live up to our lofty expectations of him. To be fair, he’s just coming back from an injury so that could have something to do with it. He did much better than he has before and looked more comfortable on the field in some situation but lost the ball time and time again, particularly when he was trying to dribble past his opponents.

There was that one moment where him, Khlifa (another top performer from last night), and Msakni linked up to good effect in the first half. His strike was strong but too close to Roberto, the opposing keeper. I still think he’s worth another look because his attributes are different than our other center forwards.

Through no fault of his own, Sofiene Chahed remains a mystery too. He suffered a facial laceration in the first half that forced him to come off and be replaced by Khaled Souissi, who we know isn’t a right back and never was one. Thus, this remains a problem position for us. Too bad Iheb Mbarki is injured.

Bilel Ifa put in another solid performance alongside an error prone and sluggish looking Karim Haggui. Not sure what it is with our captain but he tends to switch off at crucial moments when playing in international matches. The abuse he received from the Esperance/Club Africain fans couldn’t have helped but he’s experienced enough to rise past that. Yesterday’s foul was painfully similar to when he gifted Malawi an equalizer in 2012 Afcon qualifying…

Our best tandem in central defense is clearly Ifa/Abdennour but given that Aymen is suspended for the next match it looks like Haggui will keep his place. Speaking of Abdennour, his competitiveness has always been asset but he also needs to check his aggression and pick his tackles before going to ground or going in high. Too many mistakes for someone as good as him and we can’t afford to lose him to a red card again in the future. I hope Trabelsi talks to him about that.

Other than that, it was too bad that we didn’t get to test the slightly injured Yacine Mikari. Khalil Chammam has been pretty good for us but a strong performance from Mikari could dislodge him one day. The more competition for that position, the better, as we’ll get the most out of each player. Finally, Ben Cherifia performed well in between the sticks, and his diving save in the second half prevented us from losing the game.

Our coach has decided to use this opportunity to test some European-based players who haven’t been called up in a while and another who never has been.

It makes sense given that there is a shortage of Fifa dates before our first 2014 World Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea in June.

In the returnees category, we have Yassine Mikari, Khaled Souissi, Sofiene Chahed, and Lassad Nouioui. We know what Mikari and Souissi can offer but it’ll be interesting to see if Chahed can give us an interesting option at right back. His prior outings for us were inconclusive but he’s playing consistently for Hannover and deserves a look given our struggles to adequately fill that spot since Hatem Trabelsi bowed out.

Goalkeepers: Aymen Mathlouthi (Etoie), Rami Jeridi (CSS), Moez Ben Cherifia (Esperance)

Defenders: Sofien Chahed (Hannover), Khalil Chammam (Esperance), Karim Haggui (Hannover), Bilel Ifa (Club Africain), Ammar Jemal (Koln), Yassine Mikari (Sochaux), Khaled Souissi (Arles-Avignon), Aymen Abdennour (Toulouse)

Midfielders: Anis Ben Hatira (Hertha Berlin), Wissem Ben Yahia (Mersin), Yassine Chikhaoui (Zurich), Youssef Msakni (Esperance), Hocine Ragued (Karabukspor), Jamel Saihi (Montpellier), Majdi Traoui (Esperance)

Strikers: Sami Allagui (Mainz), Issam Jemaa (Brest), Saber Khlifa (Evian), Lassad Nouioui (Deportivo La Coruna)

Meanwhile, Lassad’s highly anticipated recall has finally come. Worth noting are Trabelsi’ remarks that the player hasn’t adapted well to the African game or to his teammates on prior occasions. If he flunks this test then there’s a high likelihood we won’t see him again. That is unless he makes himself impossible to ignore by scoring a ton at club level. Whatever the case, this is a huge game for the Depo forward.

The German-born Anis Ben Hatira is the sole new addition to the team. I haven’t seen enough of him this season to know how well he’s playing but from what I’ve gathered over the years, he certainly has quality. Whether he can translate that onto the pitch in a national team setting remains to be seen. It’s slightly disappointing not to see Wahbi Khazri in the list but he could be holding out for a France selection. We’ll have to wait and see on that.

In an interview with Mosaique FM, Trabelsi confirmed that he’s tracking Manchester City defender Karim Rekik and Juventus’ Saphir Taider. He still hasn’t spoken to either one yet. He explained the absences of Aymen Abdennour (suspended for 2014 WCQ in June against Equatorial Guinea due to red card at the 2012 Afcon), Oussama Darragi, Khaled Korbi, and Zouhaier Dhaouadi. Other local players that could have gotten the nod but didn’t are Maher Haddad, Nour Hadria, Hatten Baratli, and Iheb Msakni.

The fan ban has been lifted for this match and continental club competitions so the Chadly Zouiten stadium should have as many fans in it as the ministry of interior and the FTF can agree on. Speaking of the FTF, a general assembly is in the works for late March or very early April so we’ll soon have a democratically elected Federal Bureau. It’s about time.

Update

Aymen Abdennour is in the list after all to replace the injured Ammar Jemal. Abdennour will be suspended for our next two official matches so he may not play a lot against Peru as we search for alternatives. The most logical one would be a Bilel Ifa and Karim Haggui partnership in central defense.

Yassine Chikhaoui tore a muscle in his right calf in a game against FC Thun and is out for three weeks. He won’t take part against Peru and, as of right now, Trabelsi has decided not to replace him with another player. This probably means more playing time for Anis Ben Hatira. Yassine Mikari might miss out due to injury as well but that is still unconfirmed.