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Arab Derby Time: Tunisia vs. Saudi Arabia Preview

October 13th, 2009 | By: Rami | 109 Comments »

A mere three days after having narrowly edged Kenya 1-0 in World Cup qualifying at Rades stadium, our boys will be back at it again at 19:00 CET tomorrow. It’s not so often that we get treated to two matches in such a short span unless we’re in a tournament or preparing for one so this is somewhat of a unique occasion.

However this isn’t any old regular friendly considering all Tunisian football fans are demanding that the squad show some flair and attacking fluency that they failed to produce versus the Harambee Stars. In truth, a tie where we actually go out with the intention of constructing our attacks will be more appreciated than if we play like we did on Sunday and win unconvincingly.

This isn’t a qualifier, there are no points involved and thus this will give Humberto Coelho an opportunity to test many players, formations, and lineups that he hasn’t dared try out in other fixtures where he judged that there was too much at stake to tinker with a formula that has been producing results.

On the other hand, there are plenty of fans who still remember being reduced to tears by this same Saudi Arabian team in 2006 and thus want to our squad to set the record straight and get a resounding victory. While it’s true that this encounter is a rematch of that game which produced a result that Carthage Eagles fans still have a tough time swallowing, our team has changed so much since then that any talk of revenge isn’t really appropriate (at least in my opinion).

Besides, Saudi didn’t steal their tie on that day. They played very well and we were simply poor, losing our way after taking our foot off the gas pedal following our first goal. So there’s no sense of injustice tied to that result for there to be a true desire for vengeance or anything of the sort.

However, following an underwhelming outing against Kenya and considering our November 14th qualifier against the Mambas in Maputo on the horizon you can be sure that the players who take part tomorrow will mean business.

On the other hand you have a Green Falcons team that is still recovering from having been dumped out of World Cup qualifying in the cruelest of fashions against Bahrain. They have a lot to prove to their fans and will play their hardest to get back in their good graces.

The combination of these factors most likely means that we are set to be treated to an enjoyable game of entertaining football (thats an educated guess, not a promise). Sadly, it’s quite possible that we’re once again going to see Rades go back to its ghost town feel… I hope to be proven wrong in that regard but I’d be quite surprised if even half of the seats are filled.

In any case, what is of most interest to us will be getting to see the players in this squad that still haven’t gotten an opportunity to strut their stuff on the pitch. This is their chance to plant a seed in Coelho’s mind that they’ll be useful once its time to get gritty on the opposite end of the continent.

Our coach himself has already admitted he’ll be using this match to get a better idea of what each player can bring to the table when he actually allows them to step on the pitch. It’s funny we all want players tested now when all people usually scream about in our country is for an NT coach to settle on a lineup after a few months on the job and build some chemistry! Just goes to show that a football fan is never quite satisfied eh?

Meanwhile, Esperance and Al-Ittihad Tripoli’s UNAF Cup match has been pushed back to later this month and thus the players from the current Tunisian champions who are in the roster (Darragi and Derbali) will be at Coelho’s disposal. Not such a bad development since he might want to test Darragi in more of a true playmaker role near the end of the game (I doubt he starts).

Things I expect to/would like to see happen: 1) Kasraoui will start 2) Ben Mustapha will play the second half 3) Chahed, Haggui, and Aymen Abdennour will start 4) Zouheir Dhaouadi, Haythem Mrabet, Jamel Saihi, Tijani Belaid, Lassad Nouioui and Ali Zitouni will play significant minutes and a few of them will start 5) Derbali or Felhi will come in for Haggui.

For more details check the preview I wrote for Goal.com.

Squads

Tunisia: Aymen Mathlouthi, Hamdi Kasraoui, Farrouk Ben Mustapha, Aymen Abdennour, Sofiene Chahed, Zied Derbali, Radhouene Felhi, Seif Ghezal, Karim Haggui, Ammar Jemal, Yassine Mikari, Khaled Souissi, Tijani Belaid, Fahid Ben Khalfallah, Chaouki Ben Saada, Ousemma Darragi, Zouheir Dhaouadi, Khaled Korbi, Haythem Mrabet, Houcine Ragued, Jamel Saihi, Nabil Taider, Issam Jemaa, Lassad Nouioui, Ali Zitouni

Saudi Arabia: Walid Abdullah, Hassan Shiaan, Mansour Al Najii, Kamel Moussa, Ousemma Houssaoui, Majed Al Mashrdi, Abdullah Shoheil, Jafin Al Bishi, Tayssir Al Jassem, Mohamed Masaad, Hassan Moadh, Mansour Al Harbi, Ahmed Atif, Abdullatif Al Ghannam, Moataz Moussa, Solman Sibiany, Ibrahim Ghaleb, Yahia Al Shahri, Mokhtar Fellateh, Abdelmalek Al Ghibri, Yasser Qahtani, Nasser Shamrani, Abdulaziz Al Saaran, Ahmed Al Souileh

Tunisie 2 – 2 Arabie Saoudite foot
Uploaded by delahk935. – Basketball, baseball, pro wrestling and more sports videos.

In Other News

- The FTF and our technical staff have decided that a little less than a week prior to our match against Mozambique the team will travel to Botswana or South Africa for a training camp to get acclimated both to the weather and to practice on the an artificial pitch in preparation for Maputo. Smart move considering our last match on such a surface was in the Seychelles and that side is nowhere near as tough a cookie as the Mambas will be next month.

-We unveiled our new kits for the African Cup today. Check here, here, here, and here for pictures.

Yea I know that’s a lot of pictures and most everyone knows my feelings on both designs so I won’t bore you with those thoughts again.

Just let me know when you find the red one for sale! I say that even though the back of its looks mighty odd. Check the second set of pictures to see what I mean.

Tags: Carthage Eagles, Group H, Haythem Mrabet, Humberto Coelho, Lassad Nouioui, Tijani Belaid, Tunisia Football, Tunisia vs. Saudi Arabia, Zouheir Dhaouadi

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Comments | Add your comment

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 109 comments.

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By Nabil | October 14th, 2009 at 2:18 pm

They were not a million things wrong tonight but aside from the calamity from Krasaoui we really do not offer much upfront. KSA CB’s had very little to do save intercept cross and the KSA GK did not have a real quality save to make.

Need to get much more from our strikers.

Dhaouadi made several quality runs and time and again our forwards were unable to execute the necessary movement required to get in behind the opposition CB’s and create a real chance. Just not intelligent play from our forwards tonight nor in most of the game against the Kenyans.

What we lack is a CF such as Eneramo or dare I say it a Dos Santos, love the work rate of the likes of Jemma and Zitouni but their football IQ is not at the level that can provide a consistent threat.

By Abdullah | October 14th, 2009 at 2:19 pm

—————-Balbouli—————–
Chahed——Ghezal—–Haggui——Mikari
———Ragued—–Mrabet/Korbi———
FBK———–Darragi————Dhaouadi
————-Jemaa/Chermiti————–

Has to be our starting line up against Mozambique no doubt about it, Jemaa will probably start unless Chermiti shows us his excellent form, i still dont know wich player i prefer having next to Ragued(who’s presence is obviously unmissable)

Posted from Netherlands

By Abdullah | October 14th, 2009 at 2:30 pm

No offense Nabil. A but you can’t compare the quality of our players to the Saudi’s, dont get me wrong they won fair and square but that’s just because we were horrible, no combinations, no good link up play, no good passes no nothing.

We didnt do much more than a couple of 1,2’s and some crosses who were received by???? noone, no teamplay whatsoever, but despite that we now know who is worthy of playing time in the NT.

I feel bad for Lassad too because despite the bad first half his positioning looked good, and he’s definately physicaly improving give him a couple(6 or 7) of months and he might replace Jemaa.

Coelho needs to find the right recipe to cook up a solid team that is able to attack without beeing attacked so much.

Posted from Netherlands

By Rachid | October 14th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

Tunisia 0 – KSA 1! Say it ain’t so! I’m sure we’ll hear all the usual crap about this being a useful test and blah blah blah…I’m an Etoile fan, so I may be a bit biased, but is it just me or is it a coincidence that every time Kasraoui plays we get screwed? I sure hate to lose to Saudi Arabia because we’ll hear the end of it, but a humiliating loss is probably what we need to prepare better for Mozambique. If only we can reproduce what we did in Nigeria, except we actually win and not tie!!!

Posted from United States

By Abdullah | October 14th, 2009 at 2:39 pm

It’s not just you and frankly i dont know wth Coelho was thinking letting him play in his current form, maybe he wanted to give him some minutes to not let him rust any more than his body already has these couple of months???

I dont see any legit reason for letting Kasraoui play, help me out here anyone, do you guys have a possible one?

Posted from Netherlands

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

Abdullah, He did it to give him his first competitive match in a long time. If he’s not gonna do it now then when is he going to do it? One thing I do think is that he should have let Ben Mustapha play in the second half. Really don’t see why not.

Rachid, I don’t want to become a caricature of myself but dare I say it was useful? I mean, we learned a few things. I’ll save it for the match report though. I would’ve liked it a lot more if we pulled out the tie but didn’t happen. A nice smack in the face for this team so they get their act together before Maputo.

Posted from United States

By Abdullah | October 14th, 2009 at 2:56 pm

I understand Rami, but why now? Is it going to make a difference now wether he plays or not?

Suppose Balbouli gets injured, is he really planning on using him then when we have Khaloufi and Ben Mustapha in a better form?

Posted from Netherlands

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 3:06 pm

Unfortunately if Balbouli gets injured then the most experienced goalkeeper we have is him and you really think Coelho would entrust someone with no experience for a match as important as the on in Moz?

Posted from United States

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 3:06 pm

Just pray Balbouli stays health is all I’m saying.

Posted from United States

By Abdullah | October 14th, 2009 at 3:09 pm

Doesnt the same rule we apply for normal players when it comes to picking whoever is in the best and fittest shape apply for goalkeepers?

Posted from Netherlands

By Rachid | October 14th, 2009 at 3:12 pm

Rami, somebody has to be positive because this day will soon be forgotten. Things usually get worse before they get better. I recall l’Etoile lost to Stade Tunisien before beating Ahly in Cairo and winning the Champions League. Let’s hope we qualify because that’s what counts!

Posted from United States

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

Abdullah that’s a good question. For goalkeeper its a little harder cuz every mistake back there is a goal almost. Case in point, Kasraoui today. You’d be asking a lot to put such a young goalkeeper in a difficult match. I don’t think we’ll have to though, Balbouli will be there and hopefully this latest mistake wakes Kasraoui up. He’s strong mentally (as in he picks himself up from his mistakes and doesn’t let it affect him for too long) but he has a concentration problem during matches. Reflex wise and physically he’s better than Balbouli. But Balbouli is usually awake for a full match.

Rachid, I agree with you.

Posted from United States

By Abdullah | October 14th, 2009 at 3:37 pm

So who’d you prefer in top form against Mozambique then (IF) they were both 100% fit Rami? Kasraoui or Balbouli.

I’d definately pick Balbouli, these latest matches he has assured us he is up for the job, and i just never felt that way when Kasraoui is between the woodworks.

Posted from Netherlands

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 3:38 pm

Balbouli without even thinking about it twice! Come on you know me better than that I thought!

Posted from United States

By Abdullah | October 14th, 2009 at 3:42 pm

I was doubting your loyalty to our NT there for a second man, phew!

Posted from Netherlands

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 3:45 pm

lol nah im just sayin at goalkeeper experience is super important so if balbouli got hurt we don’t really have an option other than kasraoui. its scary but true. hopefully goalkeepers in the pipeline will eventually take over but thats not going to happen before maputo you know

Posted from United States

By Abdullah | October 14th, 2009 at 3:53 pm

I understand bro, although it is scary even thinking about such a situation after seeing some really nervebreaking actions of him today, it seemed as if everytime a high ball came in he would wait for the very last second to come in and grab it, he literally didn’t appear till the very last moment on the camera’s and every time i was thinking if he wouldve waited 1 millisecond longer it would have been headed in.

Posted from Netherlands

By Abdullah | October 14th, 2009 at 5:10 pm

btw what do you guys think of Chahed?

Posted from Canada

By Achraf | October 14th, 2009 at 5:43 pm

Hey guys, I did not get a chance to watch the game today, so does anyone know where I can get to watch the whole game?

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 5:45 pm

In a few hours I’ll post it when Momo on Tunisie-Foot is done uploading it

Here’s Tunisie Kenya if you want to relive that showpiece

http://dl.free.fr/getfile.pl?file=/Fvqbj3uN

Posted from United States

By Hany | October 14th, 2009 at 6:03 pm

Rami sorry for the late late reply, I had football training (maybe I’ll be up there with these guys one day!).
About the Etoile match, well you must have spoken to some Ahly supporters about that match and know their views, I assure I’m no different than them and I’m the most biased ahly fan you’ll ever speak to so let’s just agree to disagree haha, we won the year after so luckily our misery didn’t last long.
About the Algeria-Rwanda match, thanks for understanding my opinion, I prefer having you over Samm Audu in all cases because with him the bias is pretty obvious, I remember in the ACN final preview Egypt-Cameroon, he tipped Cameroon to win it (after we thrashed Ivory Coast and were clear favourites), not to mention he said we’re gonna play 4-4-2 when we’re the only team in the world that still plays 3-5-2.
About Chermiti, I see he scored 2 goals against Egyptian opposition today! This guy loves playing against us haha and I can’t say I don’t like him, I even got him in my Football Manager game with Newcastle! Hopefully he’ll return to the national team before long. He’d be a wonderful asset to use if you qualify inshallah.
As for Frej, it’s shame about his attitude, I remember him cursing our player here in Egypt infront of the camera. Quality player with a bad mentality, how often do we see that in Egypt! Almost all our players except Treka and Hassan.
Chikhaoui is definitely my favourite player in Tunisia as well. Etoile or not, I like this guy alot. I’m really looking forward to seeing him back on the pitch, I remember he was once linked to Liverpool as well (I support Liverpool in England) I got really excited and kept informing fellow liverpudlians about him on forums but the interest wasn’t followed up with an official bid unfortunately.
I’m looking forward to your reports on goal.com about the Algeria-Egypt match eventhough you’re gonna have alot of opposers on any side you’re gonna predict to win. The comments on the article are gonna be the most discussed I’m sure.
And as for today, don’t worry it was a friendly and Coelho was probably experimenting… Hopefully the media won’t blow things out of proportion like they do here anytime we lose or even draw a friendly.

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

Hey Hany, thanks for the info on Chermiti man I didn’t even know that! Well that’s good to know he’s continuing to score and is getting back to his top level. We could really use a guy like him in Mozambique so hopefully he keeps it up and holds Coelho’s attention.

Yea, don’t get me started on Samm… He once said Chaouki Ben Saada was the player to watch in our home match against Nigeria earlier in the qualifiers when the guy wasn’t even called up. ‘Nuff said. I don’t like to talk crap about someone else’s work but it is what it is. Not saying I’m not capable of mistakes either but some of these are quite basic. Ok, I’ve already said too much

Thanks for supporting our players on Football manager and in forums lol and good luck in your own football career bud. Stay in touch and lemme know if something I write for goal.com pisses you off haha. Constructive criticism is always welcome

Posted from United States

By thamer | October 14th, 2009 at 6:49 pm

hey rami, any reason why james wrote the report on the saudi match instead of you

Posted from United States

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 7:06 pm

Yea, I just asked not to do it because I thought I’d be at work but I ended up being able to see it in the end anyways. I didn’t want to commit if I wasn’t sure. In all honesty sometimes doing the match reports for goal.com is not so fun for me if its a match I really want to be able to just watch and enjoy without writing during it because the reports need to be published five to ten minutes after the game is over. Only way you can do that is write as its happening and sometimes its a pain. I do enjoy doing them but I feel that my other pieces (news and editorials especially) are way more interesting because I have more time. With that said, I’m lucky I have an editor who’s really flexible and accommodating to my requests about match coverage etc.

This blog is my favorite though, I get to say whatever I want and you guys are way chill lol.

Posted from United States

By Rami | October 14th, 2009 at 7:09 pm

As promised, download the Tunisia-Saudi Arabia match here: http://dl.free.fr/getfile.pl?file=/frMNLfv3

Doing my best to get a match report up asap but got a few other things to take care of as well so it might be a sec. I’ll put that link in the next post too.

Posted from United States