World

Africa

Tunisia

Player Movement Update (and some must see highlights)

November 29th, 2007 | By: Rami | 11 Comments »

According to Mosaique FM, Tunisian U-17 and Olympic team right back Bilel Ifa has completed his dream of signing for the team he’s supported his whole life (Club Africain of Tunis). In an interview Ifa expressed his happiness at having signed a three year contract with the recent winners of the Tunis derby (played against Esperance). Apparently he was on his way to Marseille for a week trial next week but the Club Africain administration was wise enough to know that if he went, he was likely to impress and probably wouldn’t be their player anymore. Best of luck to him in his new professional career. I think that in the coming years we’ll be hearing a lot more about this kid as he makes it up the ranks. As far as I’m concerned, the right back position is there for the taking in the future. Maybe he could fill the void left by fan favorite Hatem Trabelsi. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bayer Leverkusen target, Nour Hadhria follows in Ifa’s footsteps soon…

Not to be outdone by his U17 teammate, Youssef Msakni has been traveling around France with his dad (who was actually a former player himself) and completing trials at different clubs. Last I heard he was making a stop at Monaco. Previous to that he was in Nice where he wowed the staff by scoring a goal and providing an assist in a scrimmage match. All these Eaglets have lots of promise and it would certainly be beneficial to all of them to get into professional leagues. Whether Tunisia or abroad, its time for them to compete against players who are older then them and find ways to unlock tougher defenses. Stay posted, we could be hearing a lot more about these kids in the coming years.

In Other News

1. Fresh off his Confederation Cup victory Abdelkarim Nafti of CSS is going to Nesr Saoudi on a 6 month loan. I’m sure he’ll be getting plenty of cash for that one. He insists its not the reason but I’m sure it played a big part of the decision. European clubs had shown interest but I guess he’s just going for the quick fix. To each his own…

2. Blaise Kouassi might be shipped out to the team which he had a big hand in dismantling in the Confederation Cup Final. El Merreikh fans liked him enough to cheer his moves in the 1st leg and I guess the coaches and administration are following suit.

3. Congolese striker Lelo Mbele is off to Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia. If you’re a CSS fan I wouldn’t worry too much as the president of the club has made it clear that these are the three players that the club could afford to lose in the transfer market as they’ve got young backups in the team that can take their place. Those are big shoes to fill if you’re asking me but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see… If that doesn’t work out you the club could use some of the transfer money they’ve gained to restock on talent.

4. It’s official, we’re playing Zambia in Tunis on the 6th of January in preparation for the African Cup. We’re also trying to set up a match between ourselves and the Atlas Lions of Morocco (always a Maghreb classic).

5. Yassine Chikhaoui is embarrassing people again. FC Zurich beat Toulouse today 2-0 in the UEFA Cup and apparently there was a camera fixed on our boy the entire game. There’s gonna be a special segment dedicated to him on Sunday in the Swiss football roundup show on TSR. This video below is not the segment in question but it is a compilation of some of what he accomplished in this game. Although he didn’t score Chikha really showed his class in this one and doing it on the European stage is great for raising his profile. There were lots of scouts there with the sole job of monitoring his movements and skill level. Well I think he answered them pretty convincingly. That price tag looks to keep getting bigger. From what I’ve read Dos Santos came in late and actually played well in this game. More on that to follow if it’s worth posting about.

“Il y a du Zidane” dans ce joueur

If you’re a French speaker you’ll enjoy this one. Hell, even if you’re not you still will. They’re the second half highlights during which the commentators can’t stop talking about the Tunisian international. the first half ones were badly recorded by the supplier but he’s doing us a favor in the first place so I’m not mad at him Santos made some good runs into space and created good chances with little playing time. But this was Yassine’s night. Listen to the fans when he comes off screaming “Chikhaoui! Chikhaoui!.” Ah, to be young and talented.

Fc Zurich - Tfc By Job Spécial Chikhaoui
Uploaded by jobard69

Tags: Bilel Ifa, Blaise Kouassi, Group H, Karim Nafti, Lelo Mbele, Nour Hadhria, Tunisian Soccer, Yassine Chikhaoui, Youssef Msakni

Tunisia World Cup RSS Feed

del.icio.us:Player Movement Update (and some must see highlights)

digg:Player Movement Update (and some must see highlights)

newsvine:Player Movement Update (and some must see highlights)

reddit:Player Movement Update (and some must see highlights)

fark:Player Movement Update (and some must see highlights)

Y!:Player Movement Update (and some must see highlights)

stumbleupon:Player Movement Update (and some must see highlights)

Comments

By Bman | November 29th, 2007 at 7:27 pm

Awesome updates. As for anyone going to the Saudi league to play, why do i just shake my head and say Why!!! He could have now transfered to Europe after winning the confed cup. Id much rather relax in Sfax or anywhere else in Tunisia. Besides the money reason i simply shake my head( no offense to anyone Saudi but if i was a player i would never go there or qatar to play because rarely can you get out of there to Europe, i dont think the Premiership sends scouts to the Saudi league, or am i wrong). What im saying is i think Tunisian league is superior to Saudi league and i dont know why anyone would go that way besides cash.

Sorry this is a drunken post but hell i dont care, Rami did you see that clip i posted from the Austria game, i posted it as like the 14th post on that thread, with footage from that game and more

Posted from United States

By Rami | November 29th, 2007 at 7:33 pm

Haha, yea buddy i saw it! I just didn’t reply through a comment. Instead I made a reference to you in the post itself where I embedded the video Thanks for sending that again buddy. And I’m with you on the Saudi league. Although I think the level of play there is getting better and better. You can’t fault them for wanting to buy good players. For some it might work as a stepping stone, for others it’s purely financial. No hard feelings towards Karim on my part though. In interviews he seems to allude to the fact that Europe is the ultimate goal and honestly a player with his talent is more than capable.

Posted from United States

By Bman | November 29th, 2007 at 7:34 pm

HOLY Sh@@@@ Chikhaoui was dancing around these guys like he was doing the Tango.

His team are playing him deeper into midfield then Tunisia national team. He ball handling looks exquisite. He is definitly class. Im sure were gonna see some January Transfer window action with him.

Rami drop me a line on my email sometime if you want, tunisian-Americans- represent!

Posted from United States

By thamer | November 30th, 2007 at 3:52 am

this french guys couldnt shut up about him. i love it. he really is an incredible player. the commentators said that apart from him missing two shots, everything else was perfect. like rami said, they also said they saw glimpes of zidane in him when he controlled that long ball beautifully with his weaker left foot. from the various articles of read about him so far, these are the biggest clubs seeking his services: barca, juventus, inter milan, bayern munich, bayer leverkusen, lyon. that is RIDICULOUS. and he’s only 21 too. i dont want to get our hopes up but he really does have the potential to be one of the best players in the world, inchallah. if only those big clubs wanted some of our other talented players…i.e. jemaa, belaid, chermiti, nafkha. on another note, ben saada has been in suberb form for sc bastia as of late. hopefully he will end up on a strong ligue one team playing in europe. he’s only 23 as well, so theres definatly time. things are definatly looking up for tunisian football, and as i’ve said before, if we get all our young players on good teams in europe and they become regulars there…i have no doubt that we’ll make it to the quarter finals of the world cup in 2010.

Posted from United States

By Massaer | December 1st, 2007 at 7:07 am

That’s exactly what we were talking about the other day. The whole radio had a major hard-on for chikhaoui.
I’m gonna try to find the podcast

Posted from France

By Moni | December 3rd, 2007 at 1:39 am

Thanks for the link for the match Zurich-toulouse. Chikhaoui at a top club ? I don”t no, he is a good player but to be true i don”t think he is from a level that he can reach clubs like Milan,Barcelona,Juventus,Arsenal The Press always have speculations , specialy the Tunisian Press, I”ve heard many times of other players going to another club but never have seen them.
Some sources say that the Leverkussen deal is already a fact, some mention interest of clubs like Juventus.
What we know is that the ESS kid is a good talented player wich maybe can grow under the right surcumstances.
Many good Tunisian players missed the boat, an they where also good player but now days forgotten.
exampales: The creative midfielder from Etoile Khaled Mellite (played in Toulan festival for those who remember.)Defender Hichri from Club Africain also part of the Toulon-squad,Maher Ameur , talented Club Africian striker.
What I want to say is that in the Tunisian Ligue A there are plenty of good talented players, so Chikhaoui was not a surprise.
This match is an easy one against Toulouse, i would like to see him play against tough clubs. Playing with a club like Zurich is not the same as with Manchester United ore Real Madrid.At the moment there is one player that can handle the level. His Name
HATEM BEN ARFA.
But he don”t represent Tunisia…

Posted from Netherlands

By thamer | December 3rd, 2007 at 2:25 am

well…the president of lyon haas been quoted saying that he would offer chikhaoui a 4 year deal to play for him. i dont know if you guys read la presse’s website, but apparently someone from zurich has revealed that Chikhaoui will be going to torino. the article almost made it seem like it was a definate move, but i highly doubt that. first of all, zurich isnt going to let him go before the end of the year, which means there is a lot more time for him and the club to decide. also, the nations cup in coming up, and a good performance there would all but guarentee him a lucrative offer from a club much better than torino. on a side note, the article said that udinese was also interested. i wouldnt mind him going there at all because its a very good club and has what is needed for him to develop. as good as he is right now, he isnt good enough to start on a team like barca or juve, although ive no doubt that these teams are interested.

Posted from United States

By Rami | December 3rd, 2007 at 10:49 pm

i dont think he’s ready for the spotlight quite yet myself. honestly i feel like we’ll learn a lot more about him during the African Cup. with the continent watching and scouts paying close attention as well, it’s really his time to shine in Ghana. hopefully once Lemerre has settled on his starting lineup, Chikhaoui will find his rhythm in the team. as for a big club, i dont think its out of the question that he ends up at one but i agree with you in that he wouldn’t start. still though, at the end of this season i believe he’ll be more than ready to graduate to a higher profile league. he’s outgrown the swiss one in a matter of months… i still think it was a great move though. he’s got people talking and getting that buzz is almost more important than actually delivering on it when it comes to getting transferred. he has the goods to do just that though.

Posted from United States

By Massaer | December 5th, 2007 at 12:18 am

I hope it will take him ONE (just one) game to really know his position and role in the team and after that ONE adaptation game, he’ll be able to shine all he wants.

Posted from France

By Bman | December 6th, 2007 at 10:29 pm

Found 2 links that mention Bayern Munichs heavy intrest in Chikhaoui.

http://sports.filbalad.com/english/News.asp?NewsID=38196

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i56DYk8eNFvEFouiZlwSVUVJpxSA

ALSO

HERE IS A LINK from todays eufa cup match between FC Zurich and spartak moskow, highlighting Mr. Chikhoui once more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ge_zXe8oso

Enjoy guys and gals.

Posted from United States

By Rami | December 7th, 2007 at 9:49 am

thanks Bman, I’m glad to see I’m not the only one scouring the net for info on this kid. he should’ve scored yesterday though. apparently it wasn’t his best game… even though there were moments of brilliance.

Posted from United States

Comments are closed