Football: Tunisia target round two in Russia

Football: Tunisia target round two in Russia

Doha: Tunisia — returning to the FIFA show piece event after a 12-year hiatus — has a difficult task ahead of them at this year’s World Cup in Russia as they aim to get past the group stages, feels coach Nabil Maâloul.

Tunisia has not made it past the knockout stages in their previous four appearances at the World Cup. Maâloul admitted his team has a tough task on hand in Russia with Belgium ranked number five in the world and England at 15 in the group along with Panama.

“We have tough teams to compete against in the group-stages. We’ll be ready. We have good players and we’re preparing very hard to increase our chance of advancing (beyond the group-stages),”said Maâloul, while speaking yesterday during the team’s winter training camp at Aspire Zone Foundation.

“We’re confident that everyone will do their best. We are constantly contacting various regional and European clubs to get some of the other Tunisian players to join the team,” he added.

Making their debut in 1978, the Tunisians beat Mexico and drew with West Germany, but failed to make it out of the group stage. In subsequent three occasions they failed to get past the preliminary group stages.

“The English national football team has very decorated players, including the likes of Sterling and Harry Kane, and the Belgian team will also be tough get through, because they have a more offensive style of play than the English team, and they focus on individual skills as well,” coach Maâloul said.

Talking about Tunisia’s ambition in Russia, he said: “With the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia five months away, our purpose is to make sure we put on an honourable performance that will make Tunisians and all Arabs proud, that’s our goal. To do that, we need to change the mentality of the players and equip them with a professional attitude to prepare them emotionally for the competition. We have the Tunisian team’s best interest at heart, and we choose what we think is the best for them.”

Maâloul spoke highly of their training camp facilities at Aspire Zone, and said: “This isn’t our first time in Aspire, we’ve entered a previous training camp in 2013.”

“We’re fortunate to have been given the opportunity from Aspire Zone and the Tunisian Football Federation to come here for training. The training camp has been successful on all levels. It’s great to be able to have access to such world-class facilities, and medical and hospitality services that are perfectly placed in one place,” said Maaloul as the curtains came down on the 15-day winter training camp at the Aspire Zone.

“Aspire Zone has provided us with everything we need, and the training was made even better thanks to the amazing weather. The facilities in Aspire Zone are unlike any other in the world, and it is one of the best in the entire world. We’re very happy with the support we’ve received from the people in Qatar, and particularly the Tunisian residents who were keen to attend our training session for support,” he added.

Maaloui was joined by goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi, the team’s captain, Aspire Zone’s Chief Marketing Officer Mohammed Mubarak Al Kuwari, and Ibrahim Hilal, Head of Federations and Clubs Events at the press conference.

“We’ve been in Doha for 15 days and everyone’s been very pleased with our time here. We’re currently focusing on honing our technical skills and get the necessary medical assessments completed to ensure we’re as fit as we can be,” said Mathlouthi.

“We’re honoured to have the Tunisian national team train here at Aspire, and we congratulate them on their 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia qualification,” said Al Kuwari.

When asked to give his opinion on the performance of Qatar’s youth football team, who are currently competing at the 2018 the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship, Maâloul, said: “The Olympic national team’s excellent run at the AFC-U23 championship [having topped their group-stage with three wins against Uzbekistan, Oman and China] was made possible because the youth team has been practicing and entering training camps together for years, so they’re more accustomed to each other’s style of play. Their coach is also doing a great job. The team has some very key players, and 80% of them are expected to be seen representing Qatar at the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.”