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Tunisia vs. Burkina Faso: The Preview

May 31st, 2008 | By: Rami | 8 Comments »

Tunisia Represent Tomorrow at 19:10 Tunis time, our Carthage Eagles will take on the Stallions of Burkina Faso in the first game of combined African Cup and World Cup Qualifying. In his press conference today, Roger Lemerre said that the first game is always the toughest and while this may be the case, we are leaps and bounds ahead of the teams in our group (Burkina, Burundi, Seychelles) in terms of continental footballing status. These teams shouldn’t pose us a serious threat but we are starting our campaign against the most dangerous adversary in the group.

I still remember that fateful match in 1998 in Ouagadougou where we lost to the Burkinabes on penalties (8-7) in the quarter finals of the African Cup they were hosting. They remain a modest opponent, however that bitter memory should remind us that they are capable of surprises. Their new Portuguese coach, Duarte Paulo, only took over the team a few months ago so it remains to be seen how much he has accomplished in so little time. According to most sources, the player to watch out for is Moumouni Dagano from Sochaux.

As for our team, I was pleased to read in La Presse this morning that after watching the training sessions, reporters have come away thinking that there is a strong chance Mouihbi will make it into the starting lineup and that we will use two defensive midfielders rather then the customary three. According to them this is the probable starting eleven:

Goallie: Kasraoui
Defence: Ben Frej, Jaidi, Felhi, Mikari
Midfield: Belaid, Traoui, Mnari
Attack: Mouihbi, Chermiti, Jemaa

I won’t attempt to create the formation but I suppose Mouihbi will play behind the our two lefties as more of a support striker and creater. Him and Belaid will be relied upon for imaginative passes and creative buildup play. Please note that after the loss of Zaiem through an injury to the abdomen, we still have 25 players left. The final squad for these qualifiers has to be trimmed to 23 by tomorrow and Lemerre has revealed that he will wait till the last second to announce the names. I’m guessing it will be Darragi and Essifi.

Not much more to say except let’s go Carthage Eagles! Getting off to a solid start will do wonders for our confidence and will continue to foster that familial understanding that has to occur between players and technical staff (especially if you consider all the traveling they have to do together in the coming weeks). It’s a big month ahead, let’s start off with a convincing win! My only worry is that Rades will be rather empty. Inshallah, there will be a respectable number present to support our boys.

Tunisie en Force!

Tags: Amine Chermiti, Burkina Faso Football, CAF World Cup Qualifying, Carthage Eagles, Group H, Roger Lemerre, Tunisia Football, Youssef Mouihbi

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Comments

By Achraf | May 31st, 2008 at 4:21 pm

thank you for the blog, but are they seriously thinking of putting mouihbi in the starting line up. I think Ben saada should get that spot which will improve our attack. thanks

Posted from United States

By Rachid | May 31st, 2008 at 5:32 pm

History strongly suggests Kasraoui should not be relied upon, and especially at home. Why not Mathlouthi? When will Nefzi get his chance? I predict we will win 3-0 or 3-1, but only if we play an attacking game from the get go. I agree Rades may be empty and we have our FTF to thank for that. People are tired of Lemerre and of the poor planning and complete lack of transparency in the hiring of a new coach. People are looking for a change! It’s not exciting to see Lemerre (and Maaloul)at the helm. I am honestly not surprised by the lack of motivation on the part of the NT fans. But, at least we know the end is near and very soon Lemerre will be Morocco’s nightmare!

By Moni | May 31st, 2008 at 8:49 pm

Stupid ! Lemerre wil improve Marocco on the tactical level.

Kasraoui really sucks, I’m glad Zaim is injured, Zaim better then Karim Nafti ?

Why not an item on the forgotten players ? Karim Nafti,Jaziri,Benachour,Karim Saidi,Anis Bousaidi,Walid Hichri,Isam Merdessi,AnisBoujelbene,Guemamdia,Karim Esdiri,Mouelhi which ones are interesting ? the are al – 30.
Does anyone knows what happend to Anis Ayari left back ? Played in WC 2006 against Spain.

Akrout leaves Freiburg.
http://www.kanal8.de/default.aspx?ID=3119&showNews=230276

Troussier want 90 000 TND a month ? what kind of coach is he ? does anyone have some info about this guy ?

Posted from Netherlands

By bechir | May 31st, 2008 at 9:03 pm

can you remind me what Jaziri did that made lemerre not to pick him? and what about ben achour?

By Rachid | May 31st, 2008 at 9:34 pm

All Jaziri, Ben Achour, and others did was speak their minds, which in Lemerre’s dictartorship implies disrespect. The message is that if you cross Lemerre, your career with the NT is over, even if it means we get kicked out of tournaments very early. Apparently, the FTF either set the bar too low for Lemerre or don’t actually have a firm performance metric they can use as a means to get rid of him before his contract is over!!! This is the truly puzzling part. Now, he’s boasting that he is going to leave our NT with 12 points. I fail to see what the big deal about that is. If we don’t win against Bourkina Faso, Seychelles, and Burundi, then why even bother? This man has hindered our efforts to hire a replacement coach and has shown incredible inflexibility. Unfortunately, we’re letting him get away with it all! Again, where is the outrage?

By Yassine | June 1st, 2008 at 6:54 am

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!
FTF has finally appointed a new coach; Humberto Manuel de Jesus Coelho.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humberto_Coelho
I think that is a right choice, it will add Brazilian style to our play, which fits best our players.
Malla Ra7a!!

By Moni | June 1st, 2008 at 2:14 pm

1-2 Tunisia- Burkina Fasso

Tunisia starting line up
SBF******************JADI*******************FELHI****************MIKARI
*************************************************************************
TRAOUI*******************ZAOUGHI**************************MNARI***************************************************************************************************************BELAID*******************************************************************************************************************************CHERMITI****************************JOMMAA*******************

SUBS- HAMMAMI for SBF
TRAOUI for BEN SAADA
JOMMAA for BEN YAHIA

VERY fucked up match from tunisia, best man MIKARI and BELAID
VIVE Burkina Fasso they deserve it .

Posted from Netherlands

By Rachid | June 1st, 2008 at 3:16 pm

Gentlemen, today’s loss against Bourkina Faso is a rude awakening! We have fooled ourselves into thinking we are in an easy group and it’d be smooth sailing for us to qualify! We have ignored reality and continued to sugar-coat issues and today we paid a heavy price for it. I mentioned yesterday that Kasraoui was a big liability. He proved that today, and in a very big way! We know that what Lemerre has done should not be acceptable, yet our wise men in charge have thought otherwise. I don’t quite understand that mentality, but playing with the minds of 10 million Tunisians should be looked at as treason. That son of a bitch Lemerre should be terminated IMMEDIATELY! His assistant Maaoloul is an opportunistic bastard and should receive the same fate! If this does not happen, I hope to God that we get eliminated. We have some serious problems; we can choose to confront them and solve them, or we can choose to continue to f#&* around until we’re totally screwed!!!

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