Tunisia vs. Burundi: The Preview

After a week of training and basking in the Seychellian sunshine, the Carthage Eagles made their way to Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, via Nairobi, Kenya. I can’t blame them for wanting to stay in Victoria longer than planned. All you have to do is Google Seychelles to see how beautiful it is. There were rumors midweek that the players were starting to enjoy themselves a little too much and that the technical staff had to sit them down and remind them of their mission. High morale is good but there’s also such a thing as being unfocused.

That was followed up by another rumor that Wissem Ben Yahia and Nabil Maaloul had some kind of argument that would result in the player being put in front of the disciplinary council upon his return to Tunis. Wissem denied this in an interview on Mosaique FM and insisted that all was well within the group. It’s hard to know what to believe but a good indicator will be the lineup and substitutions tomorrow. If Ben Yahia doesn’t play at all maybe there’s truth to it…

Speaking of which, Lemerre might give us a goodbye present in his second to last match if you believe La Presse. According to what reporters have been seeing at the training sessions, this is the formation for tomorrow:

————–Balbouli————–

Hammami—Jaidi—Felhi—-Mikari

——-Mnari——Ben Yahia——

——–Belaid——–Mouihbi——

——-Chermiti——Jemaa——-

Not bad huh? There’s always bound to be quality players left on the bench and I think that if we could fit 12 players on the field the next guy in line would be Ben Saada. As you all know, I’ve been (im)patiently waiting for Ben Yahia and Mouihbi to get their starts in national colors.

Lemerre said after the last game that Mouihbi showed signs of true talent (now he notices!) in the Seychelles match and that he could have a great international career. He also said you don’t rush the integration of a player into a team like this. Take that how you will but I think it means he’s warming up to the fella and realizing that this guy can create opportunities for his teammates with his constant movement and intelligent passes. If this formation holds (and I really hope it does), him and Belaid will be relied on to service Chermiti and Jemaa. I sense a Mouihbi goal in our future…

At the back, there will be no changes. I would opt for Ghzel playing alongside Felhi instead of Jaidi but I guess there are advantages to having experienced players on the field. Jaidi is an imposing physical figure and I think that can work to our advantage when we’re away from home… Hammami played well on the right in the last game and will look for a repeat performance while Mikari will continue his best Roberto Carlos impersonation.

I’m still waiting on that kid to get his first goal with the NT. If his attacking tendencies are anything to go by, he can’t wait to put one in the net for his country. Maybe this is his chance. Finally, Balbouli will aim to keep his run of clean sheets and solidify his place as the indisputable number 1.

There is not much news about our opponents. The only thing we know for sure is this ominous statistic: They were undefeated at home during qualifying for CAN 2008 where their most impressive result was a goalless draw with current African champs, Egypt. If we want to keep the heat on Burkina Faso, who defeated Seychelles today 3-2 (they scored their last goal in extra time!!!), we need to break Burundi’s unbeaten streak at home.

It’s funny we’ve gotten to the point where a match against Burundi worries us. Their Algerian coach said in a newspaper recently that Tunisia isn’t as scary as it used to be and that he thinks they’ll get a result against us. I suggest someone inform the players of his comments so that they can make him eat his words. It’s clear we have work to do if we want to restore our reputation. There’s no time like the present…

Final notes:

- The game will be played on a synthetic field. Hopefully our time in Seychelles will have us accustomed to this by now.

- Our technical staff and the Seychelles technical staff exchanged DVD’s. We got a copy of their match against Burundi and gave them a copy of our match against Burkina Faso. A win win for both sides. It must’ve helped them as they came very close to pulling off a result against Burkina at home (too bad Dagano scored three goals, and one of them at the death to win it). Knowing the strengths of the Burundi team will be crucial. Hopefully we see the positive results of this exchange tomorrow.

- The match kicks off at 15:00 Tunisia time but so far no link for the game. Check here or in the comments section of this post before the match starts and I’ll let you know how to watch it. If you beat me to it, props to you!