Tunisia faces a major problem related to the level of goalkeepers, which may threaten the Arab Cup runners-up days before the start of the African Nations Cup in Cameroon, after this position was a strong point for its team in previous periods.
The level of goalkeepers Farouk Ben Mustapha and Moez Hassan in the Arab Cup, when Tunisia lost the final to Algeria in extra time in Qatar this month, aroused a lot of criticism.
🇶🇦 Tunisia won second place 🥈# Arab_Cup #Arab_Cup #Arab_Cup_final #FIFArabCup #ArabCup2021 #ArabCupFinal pic.twitter.com/EUwK5ss7G9
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 18, 2021
Esperance goalkeeper Ben Mostafa played in the first two matches in Doha, before coach Munther Al-Kabir returned him to the bench after the sudden 2-0 loss against Syria, and the two goals came from two shots from outside the penalty area.
After that, the African goalkeeper Hassan participated in the main until the final match, and despite that, the great excluded him from the African Nations Cup squad suddenly.
Al-Kabeer called 4 guards in an initial squad of 18 players, the guards are Ben Mustapha and Bashir Ben Said from Al Ittihad of Monastir, Ayman Dahmane from Sfaxien and Ali Al Jamal from Etoile du Sahel.
The second goal of Algeria before the final whistle ... Yassine Brahimi deposits it in the goal 🇩🇿😯
# Arab_Cup #Arab_Middle_Arab #Tunisia_Algeria #FIFArabCup #ArabCup2021 #ArabCupFinal pic.twitter.com/9GiYT7pPCU
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 18, 2021
Many considered that Al-Kabeer held the responsibility of goalkeeper Hassan for the loss of the Arab title, especially in the second goal in which he left his net to participate in a final attack from a corner kick. He received the historic goal that Yassin Brahimi celebrated before scoring it in the empty goal.
He is also asking about the first goal that came with a shot from outside the penalty area arc as well, as he could have saved the ball that was close to him, but he did not jump to throw it away strangely.
🇩🇿🇩🇿🇩🇿
Amir
Saoud
scores a world goal against Tunisia 🎯🚀# Arab_Cup #Arab_World #Tunisia_Algeria #FIFArabCup #ArabCup2021 #ArabCupFinal pic.twitter.com/TgTCYNuDDG
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 18, 2021
New goalkeepers for Tunisia
"After evaluating the performance in the Arab Championship, we decided the need to find solutions in this position (goalkeepers), especially when stability and regular performance are absent," Al-Kabir said on the Tunisian Federation's website on Monday.
"So we thought about injecting new blood and giving other guards a chance to create competition," he added.
The coach was accused of complimenting Ben Mustapha at the expense of his colleague Hassan, although he also made mistakes.
But Al-Kabeer confirmed that the door will remain open for Hassan, describing him as "a stable value and the son of the team."
Al-Kabeer hopes to reach an effective solution in the Nations Cup and to find a distinguished goalkeeper to restore the glory of Al-Sadiq Al-Sassi (Atoqa), Mukhtar Al-Nayli, Shukri Al-Waer, Boubaker Al-Zitouni, Al-Nasser Al-Badawi, Ali Boumnigel and Ayman Al-Mathlouthi.
Tunisia, which won the Continental Cup once in 2004 when it hosted the tournament, will compete in a group that includes Mali, Mauritania and Gambia next month.