The defeat at home, last Monday, of the Tunisian national football team against the Gambia, was visibly very poorly digested by its coach, Kaïs Yaâkoubi, who attacked, against all expectations, the team ‘Algeria and its binational players.
To justify the setback suffered by his team, the Tunisian interim coach made “offside” comments and questioned the sincerity of the dual national players of the Algerian national team as well as the recruitment policy adopted by the federation. In a word, he treated the dual nationals of the Algerian team as mercenaries.
The “offside” remarks of the Tunisian coach on Algerian dual national players
According to him, the Algerian selection was more efficient than the Tunisian team thanks to its dual national players. But the latter, he accuses, would have been recruited by the Algerian football federation with “barely believable” or even downright “indecent” methods.
“You think Algeria recruits internationals like Cherki and Gouiri and others for free? “, he first declared, then assuring “that he knows things on this subject”. Incidentally, Rayane Cherki has not yet opted for the Greens.
Kaïs Yaâkoubi reveals that he knows a thing or two about the “Algerian method” for recruiting binational players because he has already “worked alongside the goalkeeper coach of the Algerian team which made two World Cups and two World Cups of Africa”.
“He (the goalkeeper coach) told me things that made my head spin,” assures Kaïs Yaâkoubi, who has already coached USM Algiers, JS Saoura and ASO Chlef.
According to him, the “operation of seduction” of Algerian dual nationals, a term that he himself considers “indecent”, is carried out at the cost of “unimaginable things (or sums)”.
Thus, the Tunisian coach’s comments suggest that the dual national players of the Algerian national team only agreed to wear the colors of their country of origin in return for astronomical salaries.
“Discord” between the Tunisian national team and its supporters
As a reminder, Algeria won in its last home match five goals to one against Liberia, as part of the 6th and final day of the CAN 2025 qualifiers.
Algeria’s five goals were scored by Amine Gouiri, Ryad Mahrez and Aissa Mandi, all three born and trained abroad, but also by Baghdad Bounedjah and Mohamed Amoura who were born in Algeria and played for Algerian clubs, before opting for teams abroad.
The Tunisian selection is going through a difficult period, according to the admission of coach Kaïs Yaâkoubi who believes that there is a “discord between the Tunisian national football team and its supporters”.
According to the provisional coach of the Eagles of Carthage, his selection “is no longer performing because of an environment which is not encouraging”.
Tunisia, although already qualified, ceded first place in the Group A ranking following its defeat at home last Monday against Gambia, by a goal to zero.
