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Saihi Strike Earns Draw Versus Oranje

February 12th, 2009 | By: Rami | 40 Comments »

There’s so many ways you can look at yesterday’s match. The first half was downright boring and our anti football approach was the primary cause.

A lot of people that decided to watch from the comfort of their living rooms were probably thanking the heavens that they didn’t go to the stadium on such a stormy night. Coelho’s decision to have two central defenders, Souissi and Jemal, deputize as side backs was surprising to some and infuriating to others.

The second half saw a marked improvement as the introductions of Belaid, Jemaa, Ben Yahia, and Taieb allowed us to reclaim some of the midfield that we had completely surrendered until then.

A real mixed bag which makes it hard to even evaluate the match in its entirety. A useful test nevertheless and hopefully a second half to build on. Big thanks to Saihi for taking his chance when it came. Quite a way to introduce yourself to your country!

More questions:

Why put 10 men behind the ball if we’re preparing to face a Kenya squad that’s going to do the same thing to us?

Why do the players say after the game that they played badly in the first half because they came out scared? Whats the point of that? Our second half performance should prove once and for all to our players that we can cause problems to even the best teams in the world. Enough with the inferiority complex. It’s getting old!

Why are Club Africain songs dissing Etoile and the Sahel being sung at National Team matches? Neither the time nor the place for such things. Plus the people singing them should just take a look at the field: Haggui, Chermiti, Jemal etc. Who are they REPRESENTING? Seriously disturbing.

Why can’t we play two halves instead of one every time we face big teams?

Why no Allagui? The guy is absolutely on fire these days and we leave him sitting there. Coelho must know something we don’t…

Will Chammam or Berradhia ever see the light of day under Coelho?

The Players

Kasraoui: Solid game for our keeper. Doesn’t really hold any responsibility on Huntelaar’s goal and made some good stops. Particularly the VDV shot that was on target.

Haggui: Uncharacteristically inconsistent and error prone in this match. He needs to accumulate more minutes in the Bundesliga or find a new team this summer.

Jaidi: Answered the naysayers, myself included, with a virtually mistake free performance. Even pulled a nice dribble past a couple of attackers for good measure. He still makes me nervous with the ball at his feet but maybe he’s aging like fine wine?

Souissi: Coelho didn’t do him any favors by playing him out of position. Brought nothing to the offense but kept the speedy dutch wingers sufficiently in check.

Jemal: Same as Souissi. Had to work hard all night. I’m sure both these youngsters slept well after the match!

Demai: Didn’t have much of an impact on the game. The fact that he played a full match with his club two nights before definitely had something to do with it. Impossible to judge whether he can bring something to our national team that we don’t have already.

Ragued: Faithfully fulfilled his role of destroyer in midfield but needs to avoid silly yellow cards in the future.

Saihi: If people didn’t know him from the Ghana game then they do now! A goal that won’t be soon forgotten and a pleasing performance for the most part. Looked much more comfortable in the second half when Belaid and Ben Yahia joined him in midfield. This goal should do wonders for his confidence and also help him better integrate into the team.

Ben Khalfallah: A match to forget for “le petit Ribery.” Looked annoyed and frustrated in the first half (much like the fans) and never really settled into the match. He’ll have other chances to show what he can do as his place in the NT is virtually assured given his previous outings for club and country.

Chermiti: The knee injury hasn’t affected his speed but he didn’t look comfortable in his position, sometimes unable to make a simple control. Still as aggressive as ever but almost to a fault… I love the guy but he needs to be careful. A repeat of that red card against Sudan is not what we’re looking for!

Selliti: The midfield didn’t do him any favors as they left him completely isolated in attack but even the few touches he got were not productive. Will Coelho finally drop him?

Substitutes:

Belaid: Full of movement and effort. Things just look more fluid when he’s out there.

Ben Yahia: Neither spectacular nor catastrophic. Just an average performance from the CA man.

Taieb: Some good fighting spirit and a couple of runs that didn’t result in much. Worth another look in my opinion.

Camus: Didn’t even notice him on the field and thus unable to judge what he could bring us in the future.

Jemaa: Gave us depth that Selliti was unable to provide. What he lacks in technique he makes up for in pace and composure. He looked completely unintimidated by the dutch defense.

Reactions: Some audio here

Full match: Download first half here and second half here

Goals

Highlights: Here

Pictures: Here and here

In other News

Our U21’s put on a fabulous performance in Sousse and ended up tying France 1-1. Dhaouadi was the man of the match from what I’ve read. We will face them again in Paris come November. Goals here and here.

Update

Full U21 Match: First half here, second half here

Tags: Carthage Eagles, Group H, Humberto Coelho, Huntelaar, Jamel Saihi, Oranje, Tunisia vs. Holland

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 40 comments.

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By Feedi | February 14th, 2009 at 5:17 am

Rami can you please te me when we play a friendly match again?And Feyenoord is interessed in Chikhaoui,but that was in begin Januari.

Posted from Netherlands

By Feedi | February 14th, 2009 at 5:20 am

http://www.yassine-chikhaoui.com/ Here is a site about Chikhaoui.

Posted from Netherlands

By Achraf | February 14th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

Does anyone know if Mounir Chaftar is still elgible to play for us. He is a great player and have been watching him. He is a left wing defender where he would add some much needed depth behind Mikari or even compete with him for the startin spot.

By Abdullah | February 14th, 2009 at 7:44 pm

according to wikipedia he only had one match with the germany U-21 squad, but he’s 23 years old so i think he’s not eligible to play with us but, i think that’s maybe for the best because he used to play in the bundesliga, then went to the bundesliga 2, and now he plays in in the bundesliga 3….i’d rather have ifa play instead of him to be honest.

Posted from Netherlands

By Abdullah | February 14th, 2009 at 7:45 pm

althoug i thought i read that shochaux is’nt exactly looking to mikari for a defender but a playmaker/midfielder.

Posted from Netherlands

By thamer | February 14th, 2009 at 9:29 pm

this lassaad nouioui guy is getting more and more hype…im really praying he hasnt represented france at youth level.

these are recaps of his contributions in the game for deportivo today which he started.

Lassad Nouioui went even closer in the 26th minute but saw his header come crashing back off the left-hand post with Roberto beaten.

The impressive Lassad, who only made his debut less than a month ago, almost did so just after the break with a fine 25-yard effort that fizzed past the post as the youngster demonstrated exactly why he is rated so highly at the club.

The 23-year-old went even closer minutes later but his close-range effort brushed the outside of the post.

So great was Lassad’s performance that he was given a standing ovation when he was substituted 18 minutes from time.

i’m hoping he gets called up soon. not neccessarily for kenya ,but for whatever friendly comes after it.

Posted from United States

By Abdullah | February 15th, 2009 at 2:11 am

Rami what did you think about the U-21 match?

Posted from Netherlands

By Achraf | February 15th, 2009 at 10:14 am

I am also very impressed with Lassaad Nouioui. He Started for his club yesterday and played 74 min. We dont usually see a lot of tunisians in the Spanish League. Does anyone know any information about him (where he was born?). I hope he gets called up soon.

Posted from United States

By Rami | February 15th, 2009 at 3:10 pm

Abdullah, I thought we deserved to win that match but that the tie wasn’t such a bad result nevertheless. I was a little disappointed in Youssef Msakni’s performance. He didn’t do enough in linking the midfield to the attack. The CA boys (Dhaouadi, Ifa, Messaadi, and Hadhia when he came on) were the best of the lot along with Abdennour from Etoile who captained the team well and made great stops in defense besides for his nicely taken goal. I also liked the two goalkeepers we tested more than our senior goalies! Basically I came away convinced that this team must make London 2012. We can’t afford to go two olympics in row without qualifying. This generation owes it to itself to make it.

I’m researching Lassad right now and am hoping to write an article about him tonight. Thamer thanks for bringing that news to my attention

Feedi, there are no more friendlies before we play Kenya in late March.

Posted from United States

By Abdullah | February 16th, 2009 at 12:49 am

Our tunisian swimming legend has won his 28th gold medal

http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/2009/02/14/swimming-mellouli-wins-gold-medal-at-missouri-grand-prix/

Posted from Netherlands

By Feedi | February 16th, 2009 at 11:27 am

OK THNX RAMI

Posted from Netherlands

By saber | February 17th, 2009 at 2:41 am

I really dont understand why you guys are so optimistic.
I dont see any difference between Lemerre and Coelho. why cant we have like before a group of players who build the basis of the national team and if a good young player comes out we integrate him to the rest.Since lemerre until this moment our team never looked alike.you feel like you are in a souk, its hard to know from whom you will buy today.
One more point, Im following the Bundesliga. Haggui have no chance in his Team (No Game) and in the years he played in Leverkusen he didnt show any constant quality.Do we have any EST,ESS, CA … players who can replace him. I mean my opinion our championnat is probably of a higher level than the bundesliga bench. The same for chermiti, until now no game in Berlin.
What is this with Camus and Demai and Saihi ….. if there is somone of a quality of Ben Arfa I can understand that we try to bring him to our National Team…but not anyone who plays in Europe.Division 2 Germany ,France , Belgium…

By tounsi | February 17th, 2009 at 7:36 am

saber, i agree with some points, but Haggui really is the best we have in the centre..and chermiti gets his minutes at hertha..he needs some time thats all.

what i”ve seen of demai was really bad against holland..but cant judge the guy yet.

Posted from United States

By saber | February 17th, 2009 at 10:24 am

tounsi for two years i can tell you Haggui is the best we have. but in this moment the guy dosnt play with Leverkusen. I think a CA, EST or ESS… player
is way fitter than him at the moment. The only wright thing he should do now is to find a new team and get his Game back. with Leverkusen he got his chance more than enough but he was not constant and allowed himself very bad mistakes like the one against Holland. Chemiti dosnt really get his minutes at hertha, he has Rafael, Pantelic and Voronim for him. you are wright he didnt get his chance yet and he still young. but the way you guys talk about him you made him already the next Maradona. I ll say you should also give him time and see what he s up to.
Also my pont if Chermiti was playing now in the National Team with experienced players he could develop his game way better. but like i said everytime a new Team.
Now you tell me would you rather bring Mnari who is in the moment Division 2 Bundesliga and gets no minutes to play or would you let somone from the tunisian Championnat or from the golf instead.
I really dont understand the National Team anymore and that since Lemerre. Those kids he is bringing from allover Europe play everytime with no heart for Tunisia and they almost have no one to learn from. and Coelho is doing just the same thing.

By Rachid | February 17th, 2009 at 12:14 pm

Saber, I have to say I could not agree with you more! This bullshit about European-based players being superior than their counterparts in Tunisia needs to stop. We are not helping this process by being so obsessive about these guys. The best of them are not even playing with their teams. Last time Chermiti was even used as a replacement simply to “waste” time! Is today’s Ben Frej better than when he was with l’Etoile? I highly doubt it. Who the hell is this guy Camus and why should we care so much about him? (I heard that his real name is “Khammous” as in Khemais? He’s free to call himself whatever he wants, but it is clear our NT is now made up of players so estranged we don’t even recognize them from game to game. Give me a break! Anyone saw Kasraoui’s performance against Beja? How come no one said a thing? Does the Tunisian Championnat not count? Isn’t it alarming that may be the guy we’re counting on to take us to SA 2010? I could go on and on, but my main point is to PLEASE DON’T OVEREMPHASIZE THE CAPABILITIES OF OUR EUROPE PLAYERS AT THE EXPENSE OF LOCAL ONES. We were very successful in Argentina because essentially the same 14 players played together over 50 games to qualify. The current practice whereby players are brought in by airplanes few days about decisive matches is a prescription for disaster! I hope I’m wrong!

Posted from United States

By saber | February 17th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

Rachid, why go so far to Argentina. we can just look at the african cup in South Africa as we made it to the final. or better as we qualified to the Worldcup against Egypt and the Players run with the jersy of Berkhissa at the end of the game (Allah yarhmou). That National Team had heart. and Im sure this one doesnt have one percent from it.Im not against bringing Tunisian immigrants to the team but not in that way.that we have no Identity anymore.I think we tried enough players and it is time now to let a constant team play and if somone show up with a quality of ben arfa (why not Allagui) than we can give him a chance.
If it continues this way we should name ourselves the Chamäleons of carthage.
I hope this Coelho dosnt continue this way.that was pathetic as we played the last African cup from game to game with a complete different Team.

By Achraf | February 17th, 2009 at 5:17 pm

After most of you have been so hard on Haggui, he just scored a goal today in a friendly match against a portuguese club.

Posted from United States

By thamer | February 17th, 2009 at 7:57 pm

i agree with you that we have morethan enough talent in the championat to make up a good national team, but we have to look at european born talent as well because they are much more likely to make it to bigger clubs than our domestic talents. if belaid was born in tunisia, he would be playing for est or ca until he was 23. because he was born in france, he’ll be playing for a champions league team when hes 23. its not a matter of skill so much it is a matter of level of competition. i do agree with you however that european players who are not established at their clubs should not be called up to the national team. haggui is established at leverkusen and lost his place when he got injured…he’ll get it back. and camus is one of the best midfielders in belgium and is only 23…i dont doubt he’ll be playing for us at world cup 2014 if we make it. and his father his french which is why his name is camus, he didn’t change it or anything like that.

Posted from United States

By lazar | February 18th, 2009 at 12:07 am

exactly thamer. just give the team some time. coelho is still pretty new. so far i think hes doing alright. but im sure they’ll get more familiar with each other and become stronger, at least i hope so, think on the bright side…

By saber | February 18th, 2009 at 3:36 am

I do agree with you guys that we should integrate european born players in our team but not in the way we doing it right now. the Worldcup qualifications will start soon and we dont have a group that have enough games together and were the players know eachother.( You Need This To Have A Good Team And Beat NIGERIA).
Second we just picking up the leftover. The players who have really a chance to play with both national teams are gone for the other choice (Lamouchi, Khedira, Ben Arfa, and probably chahed). This is also our mistake we come to them when they are already 21 or older and played since they are young for the German or French national teams.( little bit earlier maybe they would made different decisions and this would have been better when they are ready to play for the national team(Integration))
Haggui scored a goal what does this means, the guy has no chance in Leverkusen and he really never used the chances he got.Im following him every damn week.
If we are really making good choices in our european born players, how many of them are still playing when you look to the last African Cup?
you give me an answer then.and im really tired from looking to the bright side. I think it is time that we make it to the bright side.

By saber | February 18th, 2009 at 3:45 am

“we have to look at european born talent as well because they are much more likely to make it to bigger clubs than our domestic talents”
Thamer, name me one european born player that we chose who is really playing or played in a big european club? and I mean a big european club.

By Fahd | February 18th, 2009 at 7:42 am

HI ALL?

Saber I am fully aligned with your thoughts. We first need to seed and than harvest.

Unfrotunately the thinking and mentality when it comes to our national team are so diverse. Which is good because we need to discuss properly to advance in the future.

Indeed the European based players are indeed secondary quality that do not hava any addtional value in their do,estic leagues. And the do a bit thant it second or third league. I am 100% sure that the Tunisian league based players have a much better output as they have ambitions to become better and finally go to Europe and earn a contract. The professional players do not have that urge as they are already pro.

And again we do not expresse feelings these are facts:

WE DO NOT INVEST IN OUR YOUNGSTER, our system is not efficient at all. This does not ,eqn ze do not hqve talent we do. Best example is our youngsters unde Kanzari playing excellent attacking football during the world cup on Korea. There we can see that the players had presented by far better football than the majority of the other participating team. NOTHING was done to further develop and coach the team Nothing??

We need to believe nore in our capabilities and increase our effort to spend and invest our money to educate, motivate our talents so that some day our national team rechest the &:’ final at a world cup for the first time ever!!!!

Posted from France

By Fahd | February 18th, 2009 at 8:33 am

Sorry for the spelling?

I crashed my laptop at work and now I got spare with a azerty keybord instead of qwerty one :0)

Posted from France

By Rachid | February 21st, 2009 at 11:17 am

Esperance 2 – H. Lif 2. Lessons learned: 1) focus on the task at hand and don’t get too far ahead of yourself. 2) ignoring something does not make it go away; Kasraoui was the primary reason EST dropped 2 points in Beja and he did it again today. Huge question mark! Mohamed Ali Ghariani appears to be a good player that should be at least considered in the NT.

By Achraf | February 22nd, 2009 at 6:39 pm

I think Hassan Bejaoui is the best goalkeeper in Tunisia right now. Coelho needs to take a good look at him, and not look at only the bigger clubs in Tunisia. Mejri should replace Kasraoui, he is too inconsistent and we cannot afford that going into the qualifiers if we are going to call him up, and hope he doesn’t get called up. I was impressed with Hamza Baghouli who was very agressive and playing all over field.

Lassad Nouioui has some great skills as i watched him play today for 89 minutes. He is not afraid to shoot and came really close to scoring. I just need more information from him as i searched the internet i dont see the info on him. But Coelho should also be looking at him. We dont have a lot of tunisians playing in spain.

Posted from United States

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