The bleeding response of Algeria and Morocco to the controversial remarks of the Tunisian coach

Kaïs Yaâkoubi did not make friends in Algeria and Morocco. Indeed, the interim coach of Tunisia made a striking media outing after the defeat of the Carthage Eagles on Monday evening against Gambia during the qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations (1-0). “Why is the national team no longer performing well? You have to ask the right questions (…) Do you believe that Algeria and Morocco are bringing back binational players, like Gouiri and Cherki (he has never been in the Algerian selection, editor’s note) for free? No, absolutely no”he confided before bringing up the subject again in front of the journalists present during the post-match press conference.

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Morocco is outraged

“The neighboring country is going all out to afford players with dual nationality. I have already worked with a goalkeeper coach from the selection who made two World Cups and two CAN with the Algerian team. He told me incredible things that you can’t imagine what they do to attract these footballers”. If in Tunisia there was not much talk in the press, in Morocco, his declarations caused ink to flow. The 360 wrote: “Kaïs Yaâkoubi did not hesitate to make controversial remarks concerning the federations of Morocco and Algeria, which he accuses of using “extra-sporting” means to convince binational players to join their selections (…) The Tunisian technician criticized the practices of neighboring selections, evoking methods that he considers questionable to attract binational talents.

For his part, Al Mountakhab tackled the coach. “The Lions of Morocco cannot be sold or bought Kaïs!!”headlined the Moroccan media before expanding: “more than a slip of the tongue, it is a dangerous transgression and a false accusation, and Kaïs Yaâkoubi has no proof to support it, because Morocco has never used money to attract all the players who decided to wear his jersey, because it is not reasonable to buy the loyalty of a player, regardless of his type, and usually when he decides to play for the national team and changes of sporting nationality, he does so either by invoking a close link with the country of his fathers and grandfathers, listening to the call of the heart, or by the inspiration of the sporting project which tempts the players. In Algeria, his controversial remarks do not pass muster either.

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Algeria does not accept

TSA spoke of a “serious slippage by the Tunisian coach” Who “treated the dual nationals of the Algerian team as mercenaries.” The Algerian publication subsequently added: “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.” The Gazette du Fennec also used the word “skid” and clarified: “the provisional coach of the Eagles of Carthage has simply called into consideration the sincerity of the choices of the Algerian dual nationals. And this argument served to justify the declining level of his team. All based on gossip.” Involved in this affair despite himself, Hassan Belhadji, who was not cited by name by Yaâkoubi when he mentioned a coach of the Greens’ goalkeepers, reacted in the columns ofEl Khabar.

And according to him, his former colleague is not telling the truth. “I worked with him, a few years ago, at JS Saoura, for a period of three or four months at most, and we never broached the subject of the integration of binational players into the team. Algerian national team. These statements are simply an attempt to justify the difficult situation of the Tunisian national team, especially after their latest defeat. Perhaps it is jealousy towards the success of Algerian football, which is going through a period of prosperity thanks to the results obtained by our national team in the qualifications for the CAN and the World Cup. What is certain is that Kaïs Yaâkoubi’s controversial statements have not stopped getting people talking…