Tunisian Players Set to Battle it Out in UEFA Cup

When I took a look at the UEFA cup group stages draw, the first thing I noticed was this:

Group E
Bayer Leverkusen
Sparta Prague
Spartak Moscow
Toulouse
FC Zurich

To some this may look like a group like any other but any follower of Tunisian football knows that this is very interesting because two of our players, Yassine Chikhaoui (FC Zurich) and Karim Haggui (Bayer Leverkusen) will be playing against each other when they suit up for their respective clubs. The fact that one is an attacker and the other is a defender makes the encounter all the more exciting. I’m sure Chikha and Haggui will share a few pleasantries about this when they get together on the 13th to prepare for the Emirates friendly. It’s a duel that will have a big impact on the results of the home and away fixtures. I can’t wait to see how they approach the game and what their attitudes will be. One thing is for sure, neither will back down.

Meanwhile, our other two internationals in the UEFA cup are Jawhar Mnari (Nuremberg) and David Jemmali (Bordeaux). Nuremberg has been drawn with Zenit St. Petersburg, AZ Alkmaar, Larissa, and Everton and Bordeaux will match up against Austria Vienna, Galatasaray, Panionios, Helsingborgs. Not as many Tunisians as I’d like to see in this competition but it’s definitely better than nothing. If I’m forgetting someone please let me know.

Best of luck to all of them. Chikha especially has a chance to shine in this competition and raise his profile even more. He just needs to capitalize on his chances and get to scoring some goals on the European stage. Ramadan will be done by the end of this week so dehydration shouldn’t be too much of a concern anymore for our devout youngster.