Football coach: Defeat against Australia complicated Tunisia’s task of crossing into the second round
Technical analyst: We missed the opportunity, and the victory over France should not obscure the end of a generation of players and the need to give the opportunity to young men
Coach: The Tunisian national team is not good at dealing with matches in the same way, and the Football Association must explain its choices for the future
A state of heartbreak and disappointment accompanied Tunisia’s exit from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, following a historic victory for the “Carthage Eagles”, on Wednesday, over world champion France in the last match in Group D, after a negative draw with Denmark and then a defeat to Australia with a goal to zero.
Today, the Tunisian national team achieved a historic victory over France, the world champion, who had previously secured its passage to the round of 16 since the last round, as the goal of striker Wahbi Khazri in the 58th minute was not enough for the group of Tunisian coach Jalal Al-Qadri to reach the second round of the World Cup, which has become a barrier that the Tunisians did not break in Six posts.
A new exit came after Australia beat Denmark in a match within the same group with a goal for free, placing it in the next round, accompanied by previously qualified France.
** She sings about winning and mourning the exclusion
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The Tunisians were divided on social networking sites between singing about the victory against the champion of the last version in Russia and the achievement of Tunisia’s most expensive victories in the World Cup finals, after two previous victories against Mexico in the 1978 version (3-1), then over Panama in the previous version (2-1).
While others considered that the victory would not intercede for the comrades of the leader Youssef Msakni, after an unexpected loss in the last round from Australia, which pulled the rug from the hopes of the Tunisians to reach the second round of the World Cup and cut off their return ticket to their country early.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Tunisian football coach Fathi Hajj Ismail said: “Often, the early exit was an undeserved result for the Tunisian national team, which was stunned by the defeat against Australia in the second round after an outstanding performance against Denmark, and then the victory against France in the last meeting.”
He added to Anadolu Agency: “I believe that with the players’ current capabilities and our team’s lack of professional elements in major tournaments and clubs, we achieved a historic victory against France and collected 4 points that were not enough to qualify for the next round.”
And he added: “Unfortunately, the result disappointed the Tunisians, whose clubs have great talents, but the many shortcomings at the local level, such as the clubs’ material problems and the eroding infrastructure, and our failure to reach the levels of major Arab leagues such as Saudi Arabia, will not guarantee the presence of players in the national team at better levels than the current ones.” .
** Coach choices
For his part, coach and technical analyst Tariq Al-Masoudi considered, “The heartbreak is undoubtedly great, and everyone is suffering from the loss from Australia, which was caused by technical choices, in light of the presence of elements capable of providing the addition to the bench.”
He added to Anadolu Agency: “The substitutes are the ones who achieved victory today against France. The technical framework (coach Jalal Al-Qadri) must take responsibility for these choices. It should also be noted the distinguished level of a number of players such as Yassin Meriah and Muntasir Al-Talibi in defense, Wajdi Kushraida and Ali Maaloul in the back line. And Elias Skhiri, who remains the best Tunisian player in the current World Cup.
He pointed out that “the defeat came against the Australian national team, which was on paper weaker than Tunisia, and Denmark, which tied with Tunisia in the first round, ended its participation with one point and was the weakest link in the group.”
And he stated that “many points must change in the national team, by including more young players in the near future for the national team, as a number of the current players are at the end of their football careers, and the technical framework must be more daring in the coming events, whether Tunisian or foreign.”
Regarding today’s meeting against France, which played with a formation of reserves, Al-Masoudi said that the Tunisian national team “took advantage of this point without a doubt, as the absence of Kylian Mbappe, the best player in the world at present, was a reason for Tunisia achieving its victory, which will remain historic, and the changes made by coach Didier Deschamps almost turned the result in favor of rival”.
And he considered that “France, despite the defeat, will not diminish its chances of being among the most prominent candidates for the World Cup title, and what we are certain of is that a number of Tunisian substitute players such as Hannibal Al-Majbri, Wajdi Kashreda and Muhammad Ali Bin Ramadan will be the locomotive that pulls the team in the future, which he did not see.” The coach in this participation in the World Cup.
** The future of the Tunisian national team
In turn, football coach Tariq Al-Jaraya told Anadolu Agency that “the victory over France came with a taste of defeat when it was achieved, and the qualification calculations are not in the hands of the Tunisian national team. Once again we leave early and we are not good at dealing with all matches in the same way.”
He pointed out that “the joy of a draw in the first meeting against Denmark may be exaggerated, especially as the Danish national team finished its participation in a last position and with an orphan point that came against Tunisia.”
And he continued, “Also, the victory over France would not have been achieved in the same way if the opponent had not guaranteed its qualification in advance, as the change of more than half of the team had the effect of changing the face of the French national team.”
Regarding his assessment of Tunisia’s participation in the World Cup and its sixth exit from the first round, Al-Jaraya said: “Tunisia must play more boldly in the future, choose to play offense and search for victory, and end its commitment to defensive plans that were useless in the matches between Denmark and Australia.”
He stressed that “the Tunisian Football Federation must reveal its plans for the future by building a young team or continuing to rely on the same group, in addition to the need to confront the public and explain the eligibility of a number of players who were on the list to participate in the World Cup, or not.”
And he added, “In addition to reactivating the local league and developing a strategy to develop the ball locally and building on all the positives that have been achieved in this participation.”
