Ex-Melbourne Victory star Fahid Ben Khalfallah has sounded an ominous warning about the strength of Tunisian football - and the quality of their players,like midfielder Aissa Laidouni.Credit:Getty
Their central midfield pairing of Ellyes Skhiri and Aissa Laidouni,a classic creator and destroyer combination who play for German Bundesliga side 1.FC Koln and Hungarian champions Ferencvaros respectively,made it difficult for the Danes to play through them. Frontman Issam Jebali — a clubmate of Socceroos left-back Joel King at Odense BK in Denmark — had chances to win the match for Tunisia.
Frighteningly for Australia,their most recognised striker — Montpellier’s Wahbi Khazri — didn’t play,and will be fresh for a clash that,like the Socceroos,Tunisia must win to have any hope of getting out of the group.
Ben Khalfallah pointed to the wayMorocco outplayed beaten 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia in a scoreless stalemate as proof of the quality of northern African teams.
“You know when we talk about Brazil and South America? Africa is exactly the same,” he said.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah won three trophies in his stellar A-League career.Credit:Getty
“To play in Africa is so hard. For example,in Tunisia,the two or three biggest clubs — Esperance de Tunis,Etoile du Sahel and Club Africain — they have money. Those clubs are massive,they’re bigger than heaps of clubs in France or Italy in terms of followers,the pressure they play in because the people there,they just love the game.
“Australia,I’ve always said,we have an amazing country — in my opinion,the best country to live. It’s just so good. But at the same time,it’s actually too good,because people have everything. In Africa,they don’t. They have one ball,they can go outside and they can play football. That’s it. So everyone does that,from the youngest age,play on the streets,so it’s very different.”
While his heart lies with Tunisia,Ben Khalfallah said the key to victory for the Socceroos is to play on the front foot — and stay there,instead of backing down as they did against Les Bleus.
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“They need to play like more aggressive,they need to press and everything. Arnie’s going to prepare his team,he probably knows now more about Tunisia than he did[before the Denmark game],” he said.
“I know the Tunisian team,and in my opinion,they’re better. Of course,Tunisia is not the same level of France or Brazil — 100 per cent,they’re far from there. But it’s still a better team,in my opinion,than Australia.
“If I’m objective,yeah,of course they can beat them. But if I have to put my money on something,I would definitely put it on Tunisia. They just have better players.”