Latest Developments

After our 2-2 tie against Nigeria in Abuja the FTF has been getting its act together to find a sparring partner before we fly off to Maputo in November for our last fixture. They turned down proposals from the UAE and Qatar to play on October 14th and began negotiations with Angola, Lybia, and Guinea but have apparently settled on Saudi Arabia according to today’s press conference by Mondher Chaouachi.

I definitely commend our FA and Coelho for turning down UAE and Qatar. No disrespect to them but we need a better measuring stick prior to our Mozambique matchup. Angola would have been a logical choice given that they’re also a Portuguese speaking nation and have some similarities with the Mambas but if you’ve been paying any attention to them recently then you know they’re currently a shadow of their former selves:

The Palancas Negras tied Senegal 1-1 in a match where Manuel Jose said they “were embarrassed” (their goal was scored by a Senegalese defender) and then followed that up with a 1-1 tie versus Cape Verde. I have no doubt they’ll get better with time but at this point they wouldn’t be the best team to face. Same goes with Guinea who continue to be a very poor defensive unit. I haven’t been keeping up with Libya since Faouzi Benzarti stopped coaching them but playing them would remind me too much of the Lemerre era I think. Libyan players are usually very skillful but physically and tactically they have a ways to go…

Saudi Arabia were recently dropped out of World Cup qualifying in heartbreaking fashion by Bahrain and will be looking to put that result behind them. They’ve made great strides since being crushed 8-0 by Germany years ago and if you need any proof you can check out our match against them in 2006 where we were overconfident and ended up tying them.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s coach, Antoine Hey recently made an announcement that the Haramabee Stars will be aiming for a tie when we play them in Rades. Now there are rumors he’s left the team completely but these are yet to be confirmed. In any case, this is a reminder that we shouldn’t only be focused on Mozambique and dismissing Kenya. In fact, we often play better on the road than we do at home so hopefully this is a chance for us to reverse that tendency and just play our game no matter where the match is set. There’s no room for error.

Speaking of the Kenya match, its very likely that it will be pushed back a day. That means it will be played on October 11th, not October 10th. The new date coincides with the Nigeria and Mozambique’s matchup. Not sure if they’ll kick off at the same time though… The Kenyan Federation have already accepted the proposition but, as usual, FIFA will have the final say. Our training camp for that encounter will begin on October 5th and will once again be in Sousse.

Chikhaoui Update

The lack of news regarding our national treasure has been downright upsetting to all of us who know his incredible potential and can’t wait to see him play for both club and country. Yassine’s unwillingness to give interviews or statements to journalists desperately wanting some kind of insight on his health status hasn’t helped matters. However, his coach, Bernard Challandes, has been more forthcoming and spoke to Jawahara FM today. Here’s what he had to say:

“For the moment he’s working really hard with us, he’s in a rehabilitation phase. He still needs some more time, he still feels some pain but we’re hoping that things will be better in a few weeks. It’s still not ok, he’s had two operations and still need to rehab. He’s working really hard and is very serious and we hope that things will go better for him.”

“I don’t think there are any miracles, after the operations he went through, he needs time and a lot of work which he is doing right now. We’re hoping we can recuperate him to play with the team. For the moment he’s doing individual training that goes along with the rehabilitation phase after such an operation but hopefully in this end of the year he’ll be better.”

Not sure what to make of that. It sounds like more of the same and the fact that he still has pain in his knee is worrying to me. I thought the operations were meant to get rid of that but maybe I’m confused. So it’s an update but not a very conclusive one. Nevertheless, it comforting to hear something instead of constant silence. The less we hear, the more we speculate and that’s not a fun pass time when we’re talking about such a talented player who’s career is on the line…

So let’s stay patient and just wish Yassine Chikhaoui all the best in this difficult time of recovery. In the meantime, let’s also stay fully behind our national team and hope they continue to improve and amass the results we need to qualify for next summer’s football showpiece!

Unrelated But Hilarious

I just came across this picture after it being lost in the vaults for a while. I had completely forgotten about it and I think I’ve shared it before but figured I’d just post it again for anyone who needs a chuckle today. Quiz: Where was it taken? It’s not a difficult question but I wonder who’ll be the first to answer…