International Friendly Preview: Tunisia – Saudi Arabia

Carthage Eagles Look For Solutions In Attack

Despite clinching a crucial 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Kenya as recently as Sunday to stay on top of their group, many Tunisians came away somewhat underwhelmed with the performance put forth by the Carthage Eagles in the must win match.

Even though they started brilliantly by scoring in the first 27 seconds of the game through Issam Jemaa, the team failed to add any more to their tally and had to suffer through some unnecessary nervy moments due to the team’s inefficiency and lack of audacity on the day.

While obtaining maximum points was applauded, the style of play and the slim margin of victory were not very comforting for the North Africans who must travel to Mozambique in a month and seek out a victory to be sure of qualifying for next summer’s World Cup without having to rely on any favors from the Kenyans who will face Nigeria in Nairobi.

Many Tunisians supporters are hoping that coach Humberto Coelho will test out a new formation and lineup versus the visiting Saudi Arabians in order to see whether he can find a better attacking formula which could potentially produce the goals that will be necessary in Maputo on November 14.

Saudis Seek To Recover From World Cup Heartbreak

Having taken a 2-1 lead over Bahrain in last month’s deciding World Cup qualifier between the two kingdoms, Saudi Arabia were mere moments away from assuring passage to a playoff versus New Zealand for a place in South Africa 2010, however the Reds equalised on practically the last play of the game to stun the home fans at the King Fahd International Stadium.

Since then, Green Falcons coach Jose Peseiro has taken responsibility for his side’s loss but that has done little to console Saudi Arabians still reeling from the realisation that they are set to miss out on their first World Cup since 1990.

In fact, it’s quite stunning that the Portuguese coach has held onto his job considering the Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s tendency to switch coaches for the slightest reason, often to the detriment of the team.

While on the surface Saudi Arabia have nothing to play for, the truth of the matter is that they must regroup and refocus in Tunis in order to provide their fans with some hope that they will heed the lessons of their qualifying failure and do their utmost to regain their standing on the Asian football landscape.

TEAM NEWS

Tunisia

Coelho will keep the same squad that he called up for his side’s qualifier against Kenya on Sunday but will also have captain Karim Haggui back at his disposal after the German Bundesliga based defender served his one match suspension for yellow card accumulation.

It was thought that the national team coach would have to release players tied to Esperance Sportive de Tunis before the match due to their club commitments but given that their UNAF Cup match against Al-Ittihad Tripoli was pushed back to October 29, this is now unlikely.

Supporters are expecting to see a different lineup from the Carthage Eagles trainer during a match where he will certainly allow players who have not gotten significant minutes in qualifiers to show their capabilities.

Probable Starting XI: Hamdi Kasraoui - Sofian Chahed, Karim Haggui, Seif Ghezal, Aymen Abdennour - Khaled Korbi, Jamel Saihi, Fahid Ben Khalfallah, Tijani Belaid, Zouheir Dhaouadi - Lassad Nouioui

Saudi Arabia

Peseiro has excused Al-Ittihad players from this match given that the team are currently in the midst of their Asian Champions League campaign and in need of their finest elements. It is almost certain that he will take this opportunity to test new players who didn’t get a chance to take part in previous matches to show their worth.

Probable Starting XI: Walid Abdullah - Hassan Chiaan, Osama Houssaoui, Abdullah Choheil, Jafin Al Bishi - Ahmed Atif, Abdullatif Al Ghannam, Taysir Al Jasem - Yahia Al Shahri, Yasser Al Qahtani, Nasser Al Shamrani

PREDICTION

In their 2006 World Cup match in Germany, onlookers were stunned that Tunisia had to fight mightily to earn a 2-2 draw against the Saudis despite having scored the first goal in the match. A number of Tunisians from that side conceded that their overconfidence after the opener is what caused them problems however Humberto Coelho has been firm in his view that no team must be underestimated so this is unlikely to happen again.

Many players on both sides who are set to take part will be getting their first extended minutes in their country’s colours and thus will be fighting very hard to satisfy their coaches. One can expect an entertaining encounter with the Tunisians managing to edge Saudi Arabia as they are determined to show they are ready to earn a win in their final qualifier next month to book their place at South Africa 2010.

Tunisia 2-1 Saudi Arabia

Rami Ayari, Goal.com