Roster List (almost) Finalized for Burkina Faso Matchup

Humberto Coelho revealed the players that will take part in next week’s training camp in preparation for our WC qualifier against Burkina Faso. An interesting mix of old and new. Overall, he is leaning towards players who are used to high pressure matches. You don’t want anyone going MIA on the pitch when you need them the most.

Defenders: Saber Ben Fraj (Le Mans), Anis Boussaïdi (Red Bull Salzburg), Karim Hagui (Bayer Leverkusen), Seif Ghzél (Young Boys Berne), Radhouane Felhi (ESS), Yamen Ben Zekri (FC Bastia), Radhi Jaïdi (Birmingham City), Yassine Mikari (Grasshopers), Khalil Chamem (EST)

Midfielders: Jawher Mnari (Nurnberg), Majdi Traoui (Red Bulls Salzburg), Anis Boujélbane (Al Ahly), Houcine Ragued (Mons), Fahd Ben Khalfallah (Caen), Oussama Darragi (EST), Tijani Belaid (Slavia Prague), Chaouki Ben Saada (OG Nice)

Strikers: Hichem Essifi (USMO), Amine Chermiti (Hertha Berlin), Silva Dos Santos (Sochaux), Issam Jemaa (Lens), Youssef Mouihbi (CA)

The Interesting:

Anis Boujelbane: He has played in more than his fair share of high profile matches at club level in Africa. Nice to see him in the squad after such a long absence.

Fahd Ben Khalfallah: Even though he’s never played with us before, it’s hard to overlook him at present. The only question mark here for me is why didn’t he call him up for the Angola match to see how he fits in to the bigger picture? Taking a player unfamiliar with the national team at this crucial juncture is risky but it’s a calculated risk that Coelho will live with because the upside is there for all to see.

The Culled:

Hamdi Kasraoui: Makes perfect sense. When a player of his experience isn’t even starting for his club, it is really difficult to justify bringing him into the national team. Plus there’s no use subjecting him to Burkina again after he was largely responsible for our first loss of the qualifying campaign.

Bilel Ifa: Wasn’t hard to call this one either. As good as Bilel is, he is way too short on experience to hold down a spot with the senior squad in such an important game. Making the preliminary list at such a young age is already quite an accomplishment. He’ll have his chances in the future.

Mohammed Ali Nafkha: Debatable decision. He’s in good shape these days and could bring something to the team but places in our midfield are hard to come by. I would have preferred him to Traoui. Once again, I think experience tipped the scales on this one. Nafkha has never fully convinced in a Carthage Eagles jersey and while Traoui didn’t play very well in our last friendly, he started in big games during the African Cup and might just be more likely to rise to the occasion than a nervous Nafkha.

Wissem Ben Yahia: One of the reasons CA is off to a sputtering start in the league is that the leagues top scorer from last season isn’t in his best shape right now. Didn’t show anything in the Angola game that would make him deserving of a place. I’m sure Coelho hasn’t given up on him yet though (same goes for Nafkha).

Mehdi Ben Dhifallah: When you miss two clear goalscoring chances and then give an assist to the opposing team on the last play of the game, you’re gonna get the axe pure and simple.

In Limbo:

You may have noticed that this is a list of 25 players and not of the expected 23. The reason, as explained by Coelho during his press conference today, is that he wants to see whether Radhi Jaidi and Seif Ghzel have recovered from their injuries first hand before making a final decision on who is getting on the plane to Ouaga.

Seems at least one of them isn’t going to make it. Whoever it is, they will in all likelihood be joining Hichem Essifi as the last players dropped. I have nothing against the kid but he just doesn’t fit the profile of this match… yet. Taking part in the training camp will be great for his learning curve though. Meanwhile, Issam Jemaa certainly has his reputation with the national team, but a lot will depend on what he shows in practice. Coelho’s stated philosophy is to only take players who are competitive and fit to play, if Jemaa shows that he does not belong in this category then Essifi might be in luck.

The Ridiculous:

For me the most shocking news of the day is Coelho wondering aloud why there was no journalist present at the first day of training in the leadup to the Angola match. He said it was the first time in his career that this has happened. A note to Tunisian sports journalists: How can you judge the coach’s decisions if you’re not even there to evaluate the players in training yourself? Get off your asses and go do your job!

Apparently the second day there was one journalist who showed up. Whoopdy doo, should we give him a medal? The lack of professionalism is truly baffling and downright embarrassing. This is why we take everything the Tunisian press says with a grain of salt.

Update

My German isn’t really up to par but I put this in google translate and really don’t like what I see! From what I understand Amine Chermiti suffered a knee injury today and might be out for two weeks or even up to 8 or 10 weeks! Why are our best players so godamn unlucky! This means he’ll miss this weekends game against Bayern Munich (he was supposed to start) and will likely miss our game against Burkina too. Currently waiting on more information but man this sucks.