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World Cup 2022: Aïssa Laïdouni, Tunisia's good pickaxe
Tunisian international Aïssa Laïdouini during the match against Denmark, November 22, 2022. AFP - ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
3 mins
Aïssa Laïdouni had a perfect match with the Tunisians against the Danes.
The defensive midfielder marked the spirits for his first meeting in a World Cup and will be expected for the match against the Australians, Saturday, November 26.
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From our special envoy to Qatar,
Dreaming of the World Cup, Aïssa Laïdouni, a kid from the Parisian suburbs, born in Livry-Gargan, did not expect so much with his checkered course.
For his discovery of a World Cup, the player from Ferencvaros in Hungary, trained in Angers, delivered an enormous performance and was even elected man of the match.
Laïdouni won five of his six contested duels
against the Danes
and succeeded in his two tackles.
He also recovered eight balloons.
A Tunisian international for a year and a half, Aïssa Laidouni is now one of coach Jalel Kadri's assets.
Tunisia or Algeria!
Aïssa Laïdouni who had hoped to put on the jersey of Algeria, the country of his father, shone with Tunisia, the nation of his mother, which he joined in June 2021. He had initially rejected a year earlier the call from the foot of Tunisia, because he expected Djamel Belmadi, the coach of Algeria, to trust him.
The deal never closed.
"
He's been playing very good matches with the Tunisian team for a while now and also with his club in the Europa League.
It's good to have players like that.
He has the spirit of this group which is united.
This is an example for us
, ”said his teammate Montassar Talbi at the microphone of RFI.
In 2021, he was voted best player in the Hungarian championship.
Aïssa Laïdouni nevertheless keeps her feet on the ground: “
This is only the beginning, we are not going to ignite
,” he says.
It's good to receive a reward, but to be honest, I enter the field above all to please the selection.
We don't play the World Cup every day
!
»
An incredible journey by a player who has not had it easy: Aïssa Laïdouni only played one Ligue 1 match with Angers, -his training club-, in April 2016 and had trouble finding his football path.
After Angers, he is on loan with Les Herbiers and Chambly, two modest clubs in the French third division.
He then went to Romania in 2018: his first experience in a European first division team.
In 2020, he finds himself in Hungary and discovers the Champions League, against Lionel Messi's Barça.
Favorite of the Tunisian public?
Against Denmark, the
Tunisian public
acclaimed him as if he were the star of the Carthage Eagles team.
“
I don't know if I'm the darling, but I'm happy to be here.
It's good to feel people's love
,” he admits discreetly, almost surprised to be at the center of the debate.
Asked by the DZ Foot website, Frédéric Reculeau, former coach of Les Herbiers, remembers a player who "
needed a breath of fresh air to highlight the talent he had
".
“
He was able to seize the confidence and the opportunity given to him with the staff, by achieving an interesting season in a complicated championship that is the National.
This experience helped him to continue his progress
,” he adds.
For Belgacem Louhichi, who was one of his teammates at Montfermeil FC, Aïssa Laïdouni has the skills and the mentality to play in Ligue 1 in the long term. Saturday November 26, he will be on the field again, against Australia, to the second meeting of Tunisians in Qatar.
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