Carthage Eagles Soar Over Elephants in 2-0 Win

In Lemerre’s last game in charge of the the Tunisian NT, the players gifted their manager a 2-0 win over their Ivorian counterparts. In the first half we saw a “Lemerrian” lineup (3 defensive mid-fielders as usual) that couldn’t quite manage to create concrete chances against the more dangerous West Africans. Thankfully the changes in the second half bore their fruit and two goals were scored albeit on set pieces. Once the scoreline was no longer in doubt we saw some really nice build up play from the inexperienced yet ambitious second half lineup. There was a feel good atmosphere in the air in front of what was essentially a home crowd in Paris. The fans got to see their stars and enjoyed every minute of it.

A few even expressed their thanks to Roger Lemerre for everything he’s done for the advancement of football in Tunisia with a banner that read: “Merci Monsieur Lemerre.” The game itself was played in good spirits with a few minor flare ups between the two sides following some tough tackles. In the end fair play prevailed and so did the better of the two sides on the night. This win will do us some good in the FIFA rankings that are not so trivial if you consider we’re currently not first seeds in Africa. This is something that could hurt us in our qualifying campaign so the more wins we rack up the better.

Here are some things worth mentioning (the order is arbitrary and doesn’t signify level of importance):

1. As much as I love Ben Fraj’s tenacity, he needs to chill out some. He was fortunate not to be sanctioned for retaliating against a tough tackle.

2. Lemerre took this opportunity to get almost everyone involved in the game. There were more substitutions than I could count and I thought it was a nice gesture given that he won’t have this opportunity again.

3. Amine Chermiti is a big hit amongst fans and even opposing teams apparently: Besides the “Chermiti Chermiti!” chants there was also plenty of smiles and high fives between him and the daunting Ivorian defence. I guess you could call him endearing!

4. Tijani Belaid marks his return with a goal and assist “a la Beckham.” After missing out on the African cup due to that car accident he was involved in, this was the player I was most interested in seeing and he really showed up. The goal was beautiful but more importantly it will boost his confidence which was fading quickly. As he was standing over the ball on the free kick, I thought to myself “this would be the perfect scenario for him” and sure enough he obliged. He’s now scored two goals for us, both on free kicks.

5. Mehdi Meriah finally got into a game when he replaced Mikari. He sat on the bench for the entirety of the African Cup which must have been difficult. He’s more than capable of being a first teamer. Same goes for Ghezel who is doing very well in Switzerland with his new team.

6. We scored on two set pieces but it doesn’t mean there wasn’t intricate passing or nice sequences in the match. Things started off slow for us but those second half changes were liberating. The build up play preceding the corner that we scored our second goal on was high quality.

7. We could have scored more, especially on that last Nafkha chance that the goalie did well to stop. To be fair though, there was probably a goal in this game for the Elephants. So all in all, no complaints over the final scoreline.

8. No Drogba: After his amazing weekend with Chelsea I was kind of worried he’d replicate that form against us but we didn’t even get a chance to see him. I guess it’s both good and bad!

9. Balbouli should start every game from now on. For me the debate is over. 90 minutes with no mistakes and plenty of great communication with the backline. He’s our guy.

For all his faults, I want to thank Lemerre for building this promising group. We finally have some real unity and understanding amongst the players. Whoever takes the reigns of the national team next will have a solid bunch to work with and add to.

The Goals

Belaid’s bender gives the keeper absolutely no chance. Mabrouk ya Tijani!

Felhi gets his head on these more often than not. I’m loving our tall and physical defense.