|
Tunisia
Expected to become the World Cup whipping boys, the Tunisians arrive in Asia in complete disarray. Former manager Henri Michel quit a couple of months before the finals, saying the players weren't good or disciplined enough to make an impact in the competition.
Players are desperately trying to regain self-confidence, but a stuttering buildup to the World Cup, which included a defeat to a second division Japanese side, did nothing to raise morale. Back in 1978, Tunisia became the first African country to win a game on soccer's biggest stage by beating Mexico, but don't expect them to set any records this time around.
As the countdown to the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan continues, CNNSI.com's Pedro Pinto takes a close look at all of the nations that will contend for football's greatest prize.
Pinto is an anchor on World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
 |
Tunisia is the least talented of the African nations taking part in the finals. New manager Amar Souayah hopes some of the young players who have helped Tunisian clubs dominate the continent's international competitions can do the same at the national-team level. He can still count on seasoned veterans like Chokri El Ouaer, Adel Sellimi and Sirajeddine Chihi to provide leadership on the field. There was good chemistry on the pitch during the qualifying campaign, but that was under German manager Eckhard Krautzen. Can that kind of form possibly be rediscovered in the Far East?
|
 |
| |
 |
|
Adel Sellimi. The well-traveled forward will be a reference point for this team. He possesses great skill, and is deadly around the box. He has suffered from inconsistent form, only scoring five goals for Freiburg this past season. He normally plays better for his national team, since he is given the freedom to roam around up front. |
|
 |
|
Depth and inconsistency. Tunisia have five or six top quality players and that will not be enough to see the team through to the second round. It might not even be enough for the side to win a single game. The defense, which features Ajax player Trabelsi, only let in four goals in eight qualifiers, but has looked shaky at best in World Cup warmup matches. The Tunisians have also struggled to score recently, despite hitting the back of the net 23 times in qualifying. So which team will show up in Asia?
|
|
 |
|
| |
Youth. Ziad Jaziri, Ali Zitouni, Hassen Gabsi and Hatem Trabelsi are all promising youngsters who have been improving and maturing, but will they be ready to take on the world's best players? If not, Tunisia could turn into the group's punching bag. They just don't have the depth in the team to compensate for the failure of some of the side's upcoming stars.
|
 |
|
Tunisia finished first in Africa's Group D, beating out the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The team won six and drew two of its final phase games, scoring 23 goals and conceding four.
|
|
| |
This is the third time that Tunisia is playing in the World Cup, but it has never advanced past the first round. It had one win, one draw and one loss in 1978, while in 1998, it managed to get only one point out of three games.
|
 |
|
Tunisia is probably the lowest-rated team heading into the World Cup and there are reasons for that. Constant management changes and a dodgy buildup to the World Cup are the main ones. It might get a point or two, but I don't see them winning a game. It just doesn't have the quality and depth throughout the team to make an impact in the tournament.
|
How far will Tunisia go in the World Cup? View Instant Poll Results
|
|
