27 Players Shortlisted for African Cup Training Camp

December 19th, 2007 | by: Rami |

Here they are. Keep in mind that only 23 can be named on the roster for Ghana. So a cruel fate awaits four of these guys in the near future.

Goalkeepers: Hamdi Kasraoui (Esperance), Aymen Mathlouthi (Etoile du Sahel), Adel Nefzi (Club Africain)

Defenders: Wissem Abdi (Zamalek, Egypt), Wissem Bekri (Esperance), Sabeur Ben Frej, Radhouane Felhi, Seif Ghezal (all Etoile du Sahel), Karim Hagui (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Radhi Jaidi (Birmingham City, England), David Jemmali (Girondins Bordeaux, France), Mehdi Meriah (Etoile du Sahel), Chaker Zouaghi (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia)

Midfielders: Fahd Ben Khalfallah (Angers, France),Tijani Belaid (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic), Chaouki Ben Saada (Bastia, France), Yassine Mikari (Grasshoppers Zurich, Switzerland), Joahar Mnari (Nuremburg, Germany), Mohamed Ali Nafkha (Etoile du Sahel), Mehdi Nafti (Birmingham City, England), Mejdi Traoui (Etoile du Sahel), Kamel Zaiem (Esperance)

Strikers: Amine Chermiti (Etoile du Sahel), Yassine Chikhaoui (FC Zurich, Switzerland), Francileudo dos Santos (Toulouse, France), Issam Jomaa (Caen, France), Ali Zitouni (Antalyaspor, Turkey)

Honestly with the talent we have at our disposal in the domestic league, I don’t envy Lemerre’s position because it must have been difficult to make some of these decisions. Anyone wishing for a Jaziri comeback will be sorely disappointed. I love his contributions to the national team but with the way things have been going recently I didn’t see space for him on the list (even though he’s doing quite well in Kuwait by all accounts). I am surprised to see Radhi Jaidi on though, he hasn’t played a real top flight game in over two months (maybe even longer!). I know he’s experienced but godamn, I thought we were taking players who were in shape? I guess Lemerre still doesn’t trust the backline he’s been experimenting with. Also the recent injury of Amir Haj Messaoud, which is a rather serious one, might have had something to do with that…

Jemmali returns to the team after going a few games not being called up. He’s usually good for his club but as far as I’m concerned he still has a lot to prove in the national team. Apparently Yahia isn’t on the list because he wants to consolidate his position at club level. Interesting decision there… It seems the idea of relying on Etoile players has sunk in a little. With their form and chemistry I actually don’t think thats such a bad idea. One player that I only know by name and am not really familiar with Fahd Ben Khalfallah from the Ligue 2 in France. Here’s what he’s capable of. Looks like he’s got a nice strike but I wonder if he’ll actually make the final cut. I still need to think about which four I would get rid of… Also, no Karim Nafti who had been figuring in the team recently.

What do you guys think? Any blatant omissions? Are you happy with the list? Any players you would have taken that are not on it? Which four do you think will get cut?

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Moni

No Need for these players, I don”t hate Esperance but Kasraroui Hamdi, and Zaiem Kamel, El Bekri Wissem. No need for them in the squad, thery don”t have the level.
David jemmali good for Bordeaux but not for NationCup foot.
Jaidi ? maybe for the bench, let younger defenders play. (Nafti,Mnari,Nafka,Traoui thats already 4 Defensive Mid Fielders. + Zouaghi Chaker makes 5 but he could be usefull.
Yahia should be selected, Benachour instead of the new comer from Angers this is not the time for testing new players.
The ESS players I dont know if they al should stay , not the midfielders but the defenders.
Ben Fraj as right back ? But what happend with the US Monastir Rightback ?
He had shown a good peformance at a friendly.
http://www.worldcupblog.org/daily-dose/daily-dose-121907.html Daily Dose 12.19.07 – World Cup Blog

[...] Tunisia have 27 men ready for the African Cup of Nations (Tunisia Blog) [...]
http://ghana.worldcupblog.org Inara

Mmmmm. More Chikhaoui. How much you want to bet that this tournament will add like another 5 million euros to his pricetag?

I saw highlights of one of his Zurich games the other night. Amazing player. I see why Lyon are so interested now.
http://marseille.theoffside.com Massaer

Back off Inara, we saw him first.
http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org Rami

lol, marseille might have missed it’s chance Mass! I think you have a better chance of landing Chermiti right now. Not a bad consolation. He doesn’t have capo status yet but for a 19 year old he’s more than doing his thing. I might be speaking too soon though. Glad you’re feeling my boy Inara! Only time will tell but I think you’re right about his price tag. I see it raising as well. He needs to start scoring goals for us though, it’s crazy that he’s still got a donut next to his name. I see that changing very soon. I’d be very very happy to see him in either kit but for selfish reasons I’d like to have him in England or Spain because those are the leagues I see the most of on Gol Tv and FSC (don’t get me started on the commentators though, except for Ray Hudson. I like his craziness and passion even though he goes off the deep end sometimes). At least it’s not ESPN or ABC type coverage of World Cup. Eric Wynalda makes me want to shoot myself. I’d rather watch on mute…
http://ghana.worldcupblog.org Inara

Don’t worry, Massaer. We all know he’ll end up at Bayern anyway. Shame though. He could be Juninho II.

The good thing about Chikhaoui is that he’s technical enough to go to a league like Italy or Spain (or France!!!), while strong and fast enough to hack it in the EPL. A lot of players tend to be either/or.

Still, I would like to see him in Spain (well, France…) just because I hate English football. They are like mindless brutes out there and make me cringe. God forbid he end up at a team whose tactics consist of hoofing the ball up the pitch. That would be a waste of his talents, IMO.
marwen

the list up there looks good
don’t know some of the players though
I am happy that yahia didn’t make the list. There is probably a reason for this if you didn’t know. In the one friendly game against nambia he got red carded for a bad reason. He stupidly hit the other player for no reason. This is probably a reason lemeree didn’t choose him, because he was afraid yahia might do this in the African cup. Thats all i have to say for now, can’t wait for the African cup.
http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/ Rami

you’re right marwen, that was a stupid foul and totally unnecessary. still, yahia scored in that game and wasn’t bad at all until the meltdown. he’s more focused on impressing at Nice right now and securing a place for the next two years. We can do without him I think… The African cup is so soon! Just one month away!!!! Hopefully the preparations go smoothly.
Skander

The four players that I want Lemerre should get rid of is 100% ZAIEM he can’t play football or shoot, David Jemmali because he is too slow, Chaker Zouaghi who doesn’t even get a minute on the pitch with Lokomotiv Moscow. I don’t know so much about Ben khalfallah so i can’t judge him and OUF COURSE EL BEKRI he hasn’t the international level to play in the CAF 2008. The rest seems to be good but Mathlouthi should be the first goalkeeper instead of Kasraoui. That’s my opinions for you Rami.
http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/ Rami

Hey Skander, I’m with you on the Bekri decision. I’m not the biggest fan… Meanwhile, Jemmali got injured in his last game with Bordeaux so he will not be selected. Ben Khalfallah is like the big unknown to everyone. Very surprising to see him in this list. Maybe we’ll see what he can bring to the team in our friendlies with Zambia (there will be two). I’m going to post about this and other things in a little bit so stay tuned. Also, Mathlouthi is my first choice keeper for sure. He makes crazy saves and I’ve grown to be a big fan by watching Etoile play so often recently. He just seems more reliable than the streaky Kasraoui. Thanks for the input Skander!
http://www.hsv.de/index.php?id=20708 Skander

Hi Rami. I wan’t to ask you if you know something about Anis Ben Hatira. I’ve seen him playing with Hamburg in the German bundesliga and he is interesting ^^. But I think he is playing for the German U19 squad, like many others. Here’s a picture on him. http://www.hsv.de/index.php?id=20708
http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org/ Rami

Hey Skander, I have to say that I only know this player by name (and now by face since you supplied the picture) but I’ve never seen him play and don’t really know that much about him. I have to plead ignorance but I’ll look into him more and see if I can find out more about him and his ambitions for the national team…
iman

wheressssssssssss haykel guememdia??????????
http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org Rami

Welcome Iman… Haykel has been sitting on the bench all season at Strasbourg in France so it makes sense that we can’t put him in the team right now. He’s suffering from a lack of competition and its vital we choose people that are playing a lot in their clubs. It’s too bad because I actually like him. I remember watching him in 2006 in the confederations cup against Argentina where he created two penalties and scored the second one after Mhadhibi missed the first.

I remember reading somewhere that Trabelsi is quoted as saying Guemamdia is our best player period. I don’t agree with that assessment as Chikhaoui has taken that title in my opinion. Still though, Guemamdia is a good player. He was going to join EST as they need some firepower but instead he’s being tested at Sivasspor in Turkey. I don’t care where he ends up, I’d just like him to play consistently.

http://www.francefootball.fr/FF/breves2008/20080104_113418Dev.html
iman

ohhh thx rami for that…ye i like Chikhaoui at the moment as well, its about time tunisia made some new young platers…oii is tijani belaid alright..well he still play in the cup!!
iman

i realy hope the tunisian national team do something this year, and i mean play for the full 90 mimnutes with energy to spare not like the game against spain where they ran out of energy at 70 minutes, everyone talks about the moroccan and egyptian team they hardly mention tunisia but i believe that we can actually do somthing, its good jaziri is not playing becasue he wasnt professional, people used to say to me if it wasnt of jaziris cheating, we would of lost, this cup they have to make sure not to rely always on santos uo front, they have to always back him up. im upset ben achour isnt there becasue i kinda liked him , he used to create play in the midfield, and move around alot. i dont want to remember the world cup 2006, it was terrible, i really hope were better this year, i want countries especially where i live in egland to recognize tunis, i want us to play in set pieces, pass pass, maybe a bit of dribbling. I JUST WANT TUNISIA TO MAKE US PROUD!!!!!