Tunisia-Zambia (1-2): A Tale of Two Halves

January 6th, 2008 | by: Rami |

Pardon the cliche but there’s no other way to put it. The first half was absolutely pitiful. No cohesiveness, no team shape, no enthusiasm. Basically there was nothing… I barely recognized any of our players out there. Except for Yassine Chikhaoui who seemed to be the only one who gave a damn. The first five minutes actually weren’t that bad. We were controlling the ball and Chikhaoui made a nice pass to Kamel Zaiem who shot wide of the target. I thought we were doing alright but it quickly became clear that Zambia’s reliance on counter attacks coupled with our lazy approach to returning to defense was going to cause us problems. I’m thinking especially of Zaiem and Mohammed Ali Nafkha who did a terrible job recovering when we lost the ball. I’ve really never seen such wide open spaces in our area. It looked like no one knew where they were supposed to go!

In the seventh minute, Zambia scored off their first chance as Katongo’s powerful shot was deflected by Abdi into the goal. Chikhaoui almost returned things to 1-1 singlehandedly when he blew past four defenders. Unfortunately, after showing us his strength in dribbling, he confirmed the only real criticism we have of him: He holds onto the ball way too long sometimes. He could have shot a number of times on his run but instead he decided to hold on until the entire Zambian defense capitulated on him as he got into the box. We didn’t even get a chance to catch our breath as Zambia doubled their lead only two minutes after their first goal. Once again, it was Katongo who blasted a left footed shot low and hard, past Kasraoui. This is when things got ugly.

The fans who came out were disgusted and it took them no time to voice their displeasure. A chant of “Jaziri Jaziri Ooooh” rang out as his fans took this chance to signal to Roger Lemerre that they were not impressed with his decision not to include the veteran in the list (I thought that they were maybe saying L’ifriqui Lifriqui in reference to Club Africain but upon further review I was wrong). Not only that but the fans made it a home game for Zambia: Whistling when we had the ball and cheering at every all Zambian passing and dribbling sequences (and there were a lot of them). I understand the frustration of the supporters (if you could call them that) but I really think they took it too far this time. They essentially made a bad situation worse and demoralized our players even more. Zambia was playing as a team: quick passes and no hesitancy. Meanwhile, we looked like a bunch of individuals that couldn’t find each other on the field.

One such individual was Chikhaoui who created another chance when he went past two defenders off a considerate Zaiem pass. Unfortunately, his shot clanged against the post and he was once again denied his first goal with the national team. Besides the moments of brilliance from Yassine, who was playing in attack rather than midfield, there wasn’t much else going. Things went from bad to worse as Issam Jomaa, our top scorer in African Cup qualifying, suffered a knock on a forceful tackle from a Zambian defender. Mehdi Ben Dhifallah came on to replace him after Jomaa couldn’t shake off the injury. According to the medical staff, the early prognosis is that nothing is broken and there was no ligament damage. We’ll have to wait to know for sure though.

Everyone looked frustrated and rightfully so. The Zambians simply outplayed us in all facets of the game in the first half. At the break I remember thinking, “now we’ll see if Lemerre can earn his paycheck.” Halftime speeches go a long way when players look like they lack concentration and Lemerre should be credited with breathing life into the team as they came out completely focused on the task at hand. No personnel changes, just a more positive attitude and a genuine commitment to put pressure on the Zambians when they passed the ball around in their area. Only a few minutes went by before Ben Dhifallah controlled a ball on his chest and passed it to an onrushing Chikhaoui who made no mistake this time from just outside the box and finally broke his duck with the national team (and what a way to do it!). If we can take anything positive from this game it will be that Yassine can now play freely and escape the questions surrounding his inability to score for the Carthage Eagles.

The early goal gave us a big morale boost and it was basically all Tunisia from there. No chances for Zambia for the entire half as they retreated into their area. We threw everything at them, hitting the crossbar once off a Karim Haggui header and the post off a pretty Zaiem free kick. Finally the fans were back on our side and although we created chance after chance, the equalizer just never came. It’s unfortunate as a draw seemed to be the logical outcome. A loss is not what we were looking for and not what the fans came to see but at this point I’d rather get losses out of our system early and then impress in Ghana where the scoreline matters a lot more.

So all in all, not a catastrophic result really. Just a worrisome first half performance followed by an encouraging second half. Thankfully we will be playing Zambia once again on Tuesday and will have another shot at getting a win before we face Iran on the 16th. Lemerre hinted after the game that we will see a different team on Tuesday as there are other players he wants to test. I’d like to see more of Chermiti, he only got 20 minutes today but whenever he comes on he is always dangerous as his bursts of speed often leave defenders very little time to do anything positive. Santos, Ben Saada Jaidi, and Nafti will be back as well. I think we really missed Nafti’s tenacity today. Nafkha just didn’t get things done in that first half and it was only when he came more into the middle of the pitch that things changed in the second.

The Lineup: Kasraoui, Souissi, Abdi (Ghezel 70′), Haggui, Mikari, Zaiem, Nafkha (Traoui), Mnari, Zouaghi, Jomaa (Ben Dhifallah), Chikhaoui (Chermiti 70′).

Chikhaoui’s Blast and Some Second Half Chances

It’s missing the Zaiem free kick

Analyse 2em MiTemps
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Chikhaoui’s Goal

Good service from Ben Dhifallah

CHI5AOUI
Uploaded by BRIKA_BE_THON

Full Match Highlights

About 4 minutes and 45 seconds in

Tv7-Dimanche Sport 06/01 (1)
Uploaded by SuperBeurkMan

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marwen

ill post my comments after i watch the game, do they air on the tunis 7 satelite?
Rami

i don’t see why they wouldn’t, it’s not one of those games where we’re stealing the signal and don’t have the license to show it. normally you’ll be able to see it.
marwen

alright thanks,and it starts at 3 pm right?
Rami

I actually am not sure Marwen. I don’t get TV7 on satellite and ended up catching the match on Soapcast online (not the best quality but its a good alternative if you don’t have any other way to see it). I hope you find a way to watch it and I’m sorry I can’t be more of a help. Worse comes to worse I can try to put the footage that I recorded on sendspace or something later on. I’ve never done it before but I’d be willing to give it a try. Also, Dimanche sport is later today and they’ll be sure to have plenty of highlights from this game. Chikhaoui was really impressive today. Too bad not many others were.
Skander

So aren’t we going to play against Equatorial Guinea the 13th of January?
http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org Rami

Not anymore I don’t think Skander. From what I heard and read, Equatorial Guinea couldn’t secure the release most of their European players as their Clubs were playing in various cup competitions. Thankfully, Iran stepped in and we’ll get to test ourselves against them.
Skander

Ah Rami you forgot to mention that Ben Saada will be back ass well with Jaidi, Santos and Nafti. I hope that Lemerre lets Ben Saada play because he’s in good shape. Lemerre hasn’t give Ben Saada a chance even and i hope that he let him play from start on Tuesday.
http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org Rami

You’re right Skander I’m about to change that. Even when I was writing it I knew I was forgetting someone! And I agree with you, Ben Saada is scoring regularly with his club and he should get his chance.
Skander

———-Kasraoui———-
Ben Frej-Haggui-Jaidi-Mikari
—–—-Nafti———–-
Ben Saada————-Jemaa-
—-Nafkha(Belaid)——-
—–Chermiti—Chikhaoui——

I personally recomend a starting lineup like this or something like that for the CAN or switch Santos and Chermiti for the two first mathces because Chermiti is suspended and to give Chikhaoui a free position because he is so creative. If Belaid is ready he can be there too instead of Ben Saada or Nafkha. But i don’t recomend Zaiem and Zouaghi, they aren’t fast enough.
Skander

i’m watching Dimanche sport now but i must say that this is the period that our National team needs all support they can from their spectators, but where are they?!. Why must the national team always play in Rades? :O, can they play in cities like Sousse or Sfax were i think the stadiums would get full because it’s many supporters that wants to see our national team in Sousse for example but they can’t……. -.-
Skander

Bye for now going to sleep haha .
http://egypt.worldcupblog.org tamim

well, your post has a positive side and a negative one. first, it raises concerns for me as an egyptian because i feel that we should not underestimate zambia and they aren’t as weak as we think.
second, it make me assured that the egyptian team is on the right track and it isn’t as bad as we think, also the fans in namibia match were totally supportive unlike what i read here……..good luck for both teams and we will meat in the final isa
Bman

Hey guys. Just a note for anyone who has Tunis 7 satelite. They always show the game at the same time it would have been shown in Tunis, not live. Example, if the game is at 4 pm in tunis, you wait until 4 pm Eastern Time in America(if you are int he eastern timezone) to watch. You cant see it live unless you try other alternatives as mentioned.

One person I have a observation about is Nafkha,I see he didnt get any good reviews for this match(i didnt see the whole Zambia match) is anyone as annoyed as I am about how lakadaisical he is, he plays with no urgency whatsoever. And i remember when Etoile played in the Club World cup, he would take all the free kicks, when he did he always shot horribly wide of goal, and always tried to selfishly score directly instead.

The difference between halves as described by Rami is the key, if Tunis can play like they did with that all out offense, they will win games, as you see they didnt allow a gaol and scored one in the 2nd half.

Personally im glad the game was lost because that will build up the intensity and teach the team not to underestimate any opposition. I am going to predict now, and i really hope im right a 3-0 victory on Tuesday int he rematch.
Bman

By the Way that Chikhaoui goal was bad ass, he put some real venom behind that shot. Ben Dhifallah really won some points with me with his hold up play. Who was the guy that missed to chances in the first video?
Rachid

I’ve looked at several websites and comments, but I must say I’m surprised nobody has raised the issue of whether Kasraoui is fit to be the number one goal keeper of our national team. Just because he is the GK of Esperance does not make him the best suited!!! In fact, I think eventualy EST will realize that he is one of their weaknesses! Why not give some one like Mathlouthi a chance? He’s battle-tested, remember how many incredible saves he made against Pachuca? Why is everyone blaming Wissem Abdi for accidentally shifting the direction of the ball? What was Kasraoui doing on the ground? I hope Mathlouthi gets his chance during the next game, but knowing what I know about Lemerre, I won’t hold my breath.
Rami

Rachid, in previous posts I’ve stated my preference for Mathlouthi in between the sticks. He’s much more convincing and I’m with you %100 percent. Abdi did make a mistake though, he should have put more pressure initially. Instead, he back off and gives the Zambian player time and once he commits to the tackle it’s way too late. Watch the tape and you’ll see what I mean. Kasraoui actually didn’t do as bad as he usually does. But as far as Mathlouthi I hope to see him in goal also.
http://www.worldcupblog.org/daily-dose/daily-dose-010708.html Daily Dose 01.07.08 – World Cup Blog

[...] Tunisia getting all the defeats out of their system before the African Cup of Nations (Tunisia Blog) [...]
thamer

im not sure if anyone else has discovered this. but what ive done for the past couple of years to follow national games live is go to tunisiatv.com then go to direct. it will enable you to at least follow the game live on tunis 7. the quality is poor, but you can still make out the players and the ball. and even if you cant, you can always listen to the commentator.

i agree with you rami, about chikhaoui holding on to the ball too long. although it was amazing to see him blow by those zambian defenders, he had some one wide open on the left of him. i also hope ben frej starts the next game. souissi didnt do a horrible job, but its not his real position, not only will saber improve our defence, he’s a beast down the flank. i’d also like to see ben saada play the whole game. i think hes very under rated and when given the opportunity, he can do something big. hopefully he’ll prove me right tomorow. i also hope to see a little bit of tijani tomorow. hopefully he’s doing well in his recovery of the accident and if he isnt, then by no means rush him in, but i think that a little playing time will help him take his mind off it.
Rami

Bman, thanks for the tip for TV7 in America. I wish I had that channel! It would make my life a lot easier… I hope you’re right about a 3-0 win tomorrow. Inshallah marbou7a.

Thamer, thanks for the idea about tunisiatv.com. I’ve been to it before and its worked for me a few times. Soapcast is working too now. Easy download and the Kooora Tounisia channel hasn’t failed me yet.
bman

For anyone, Tunisia tv7 is a free to air channel. if you have a dish and reciever and it is aiming in the right spot, there is no charge for it and u can recieve some other middle eastern chanmnels as well, i dont have further details tho.

Ya tunisiatv is slow because all of us obsessive fans are all over it during the matches.

Sopcast sounds cool i never tried it yet
http://www.my-news.biz/blog/Tunisia/2008/01/25/ghana-2008-tunisia-escapes-with-a-draw-against-senegal/ Tunisia » Blog Archive » Ghana 2008: Tunisia escapes with a draw against Senegal

[...] Tunisia-Zambia (1-2): A Tale of Two HalvesThe early goal gave us a big morale boost and it was basically all Tunisia from there. No chances for Zambia for the entire half as they retreated into their area. We threw everything at them, hitting the crossbar once off a Haggui … [...]