Various Items

December 7th, 2007 | by: Rami | View Comments

Not an Ideal Welcome:

I haven’t seen it myself but from what I’ve read and heard on the radio Karim Nafti had a nightmare start with his new Saudi Club… and it had nothing to do with his individual performance. Apparently all was going swimmingly for the Tunisian international when the Ref gave him an absolutely outrageous yellow card. Following the innocuous challenge, Karim was victimized by the referee once more when he was booked for another mystery foul. Any soccer fan knows that refs make mistakes but even the Saudi commentators were questioning this decision. It gets deeper still…

In an interview with Mosaique FM, a distraught Nafti said that when he went to complain about the rugged treatment the ref looked him square in the face and said “Go home back to your country, back to Tunisia.” Ouch! Come to find out, the referee is a fan of Al Hilal of Saudi whom Ennaser (Nafti’s club) will be facing in two matches. So I guess the ref was trying to get him to overreact and get him suspended for even longer. Well, thats not likely to happen as even the opposing players heard the insult and will be put down their testimony to support the overturning of such a ridiculous decision. Even if the ref had his heart set on getting Nafti ejected, you think he could have done it with more tact. Despite this disappointing news, it is said that Nafti was actually playing well and being his usual creative self in midfield. He says he’s still happy to be there and that everyone has made him feel welcome besides that jerk. More to follow…

Chikhawatch

You can add Chelsea to the list of Chikhaoui admirers. Yes Chelsea. the team that had its heart set on not recruiting anymore African internationals this season because of the African Cup of Nations might be breaking that promise if this source is to be believed. Abramovich is said to be enthralled by Chikhaoui’s style and performance and has even gone as far as to hail him as the next Zidane (at least if we’re to believe this source). Lofty praise but we all know Chikhaoui isn’t there yet (and has a long long way to go). It’s one thing to dominate against Toulouse and defenders in the Swiss League but its another to go out in a World Cup game and make everyone on the Brazilian team look like they forgot how to defend. One thing that is spot on in my opinion though is that his style is very similar. What I am referring to here is his ability to slow the game down and bait the opposition by showing them so much of the ball. It looks like it’s gonna be easy to take it away and just when you come in for the tackle, the kid belies his height and stature with a change of direction and pace. One website describes him as a blend of Zidane and Henry. Wow, now thats what I call a sexy concept. Still though, let’s no get carried too carried away…

Bayern are seen as the frontrunners at the moment to get a deal done for next season before the African Cup. The interest from Chelsea is interesting because it might inflate his price tag. But then again when Mourinho was at Chelsea he always said there was a double standard for them in the transfer market. Even if these moves don’t materialize you can bet that the buzz that Chikhaoui is developing will not go unnoticed and that he is sure to be at a bigger club than the one he’s at this time next year.

Meanwhile, his team lost today to Spartak Moscow in Russia and he missed a couple nice chances. The dribbling is still there, now he needs to start scoring in Europe. Thankfully his team is through to the next round.

Karim Haggui had a good game for Leverkusen yesterday and his team is through to the second round as well.