Herve Renard warned before his first match in charge that “there are no magicians in football” and that Tunisia would have to get the basics right, but the Carthage Eagles have failed to do so across two matches, according to the report. A 5-1 opening defeat by Sweden was followed by a 4-0 loss to Japan in Monterrey, leaving the campaign well short of the optimism that greeted the French coach’s arrival.
Japan took the lead after four minutes through Daichi Kamada and were 2-0 at the interval. Junya Ito added a 69th-minute goal and Ayase Ueda scored late to complete the victory. The match, the 1,000th World Cup fixture, left Tunisia as the second team eliminated from this tournament after Haiti, the report added. Tunisia failed to force a single save from Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.
Renard’s calls for organisation, unity and belief did not materialise on the pitch. The team were described as disorganised, short of zeal and motivation, and lacking the unity the coach had demanded. Efforts to restore pride and produce positive results have not had the desired effect.
There were signs of fight in the Sweden game: Omar Rekik pulled a goal back just before half-time, Tunisia created chances, won many duels and edged possession, though they could not impose their play. Against Japan they appeared ragged and thoroughly outplayed, the report said.
After two matches Tunisia have zero points and a goal difference of minus eight. They are the first team since Greece in 1994 to lose by four-goal margins in their opening group games and could, depending on the result against the Netherlands, be compared with historically poor campaigns such as Zaire in 1974. The report notes that Tunisia entered the tournament ranked 44th, qualified from Africa without conceding, and had reached six of the last eight World Cups, making these results especially disappointing.
The coverage also points to in-fighting, disharmony and tensions among players, federation officials and media as factors behind the premature departure of head coach Sabri Lamouchi following the opening defeat by Sweden.
