Back to square one

World Cup-bound Tunisia goes home early from Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (Reuters) -- Tunisia coach Henri Michel said his team needed a radical new approach and a lot of hard work to stand any chance of making an impression at the World Cup finals after its early exit from the African Nations Cup.

The glum Frenchman told a news conference on Friday that he had tried to adapt himself to the team but it had been a mistake.

"We can't continue like that. At some point you have to say 'stop'.

"I made a mistake so now we'll have to take a different direction," he said, adding that any questions about his future should be put to officials of the Tunisian federation.

"I'm trying to do my job. My responsibility is for the national team and Tunisian football to do well. I'll say openly what I think is wrong," Michel said Friday.

Michel kept up his criticism of his team, eliminated from the Nations Cup finals on Thursday without scoring a goal in three games.

Its final match was a 0-0 draw with Senegal in Kayes, although Michel said he drew some small satisfaction from the fact some players put in more effort than against Egypt in the previous game.

"We did what we could with the resources we had and played a decent match. There's room for some satisfaction. If we continue like that, we'll be going in the right direction," he said.

"There is a lot of hard work ahead we showed little capability in this tournament and a lack of ability that is difficult to try and fix.

"But if yesterday's match was a point of reference for the World Cup there's no point in even turning up."

Nil nil nil

Tunisia failed to score a goal in its three group D matches and finished with just two points.

It is the only one of the five African teams which is heading to the World Cup finals which has not qualified for the quarterfinals at the Nations Cup in Mali.

But against Senegal, it squandered a penalty and several good chances in a match against second-string opposition.

"I regret that we got eliminated and I regret all the scoring chances we missed. What is need now is a new tactical system and some serious effort," he added.

Michel has already made several drastic changes to the team since being appointed in November to take the side to both the Nations Cup and World Cup finals.

And he openly questioned some players' level of motivation.

"To compete with the likes of Nigeria and Cameroon you have to be 200 percent motivated," he said.

"We need to change the mentality, the way we work and the way we approach problems."

Fourth time at World Cup

Tunisia spent several months looking for a new coach after the contract of German Eckhard Krautzen was not renewed. He had been been in charge for the majority of matches in Tunisia's impressive World Cup qualifying campaign.

Tunisia won six matches and drew the other two, scoring at an average of almost three goals a game.

Its form last year sww it emerge as the top ranked African side on the FIFA rankings

But Michel has been far from convinced and after the side's first game in the Nations Cup finals, a goalless draw against Zambia, he asked rhetorically: "What are you supposed to do with a team that has very little talent?

"You can only deliver with the material you have at your disposal," he added.

The former French national captain is headed to his fourth World Cup finals as coach of four different teams, taking France to the semifinals in Mexico in 1986 but having none of the same success with Cameroon in 1994 and Morocco at the last World Cup finals in 1998.

Tunisia is grouped with hosts Japan, Belgium and Russia in the World Cup.

"It is true we were not properly prepared and that we did badly," said captain Chokri El Ouaer, the veteran goalkeeper who played at the last World Cup finals.

"There are many players now coming up from the under-23 and it takes time for them to get used to top level soccer."

Tunisian officials have drawn up a tentative programme of friendly matches to be used for the World Cup buildup but have yet to confirm dates although they are planning to take part in a tournament in Hong Kong a month before the World Cup finals start.

 

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