Sami Trabelsi Confident and Faithful to His Choices
Photo: Mokhtar HMIMA
The national team selector, Sami Trabelsi, has announced his objective for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) in Morocco. Trabelsi will approach the tournament match by match, step by step, with the primary goal of advancing past the first round before entering the direct elimination phases.
Press Conference
The national team selector, Sami Trabelsi, held a press conference yesterday at noon, during which he announced the list of 28 players called up for the Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled to take place in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.
Trabelsi did not want to dwell on the participation in the Arab Nations Cup, estimating that the team's performance in this competition will have no impact on their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations: "Each competition has its technical specificities and its own context. The elimination from the first round of the Arab Nations Cup will not affect the performance of the players or their morale at the CAN. I can give you the example of the Algerian team, which won the Arab Nations Cup in 2021 but was eliminated in the first round of the Cameroon 2022 CAN."
Despite the early elimination from the Arab Nations Cup, which the Tunisian team left in the first round, Sami Trabelsi remains serene: "We will approach the CAN, match by match, step by step, with the primary goal of advancing past the first round, before entering the direct elimination phases. We aim to go as far as possible in the next CAN," he declared.
First Call-Up for Adem Arous
In establishing the list of players called up for the CAN in Morocco, Sami Trabelsi remained faithful to his choices. There are no real surprises in the list announced yesterday, except perhaps the first call-up of the central defender of the Turkish club Kasimpasha, Adem Arous.
The national team selector also defended his choice to call up four goalkeepers: "From now on, I prefer to have at least three options for each position. For the goalkeeper position, I opted to add Sabri Ben Hassan as a fourth option, in addition to the trio that was retained for the Arab Nations Cup, Aymen Dahmen, Bechir Ben Said, and Noureddine Farhati, in order to cope with any technical or health issues during the continental tournament."
Ben Slimane Not Retained Due to Injury
Among the players who will not be called up for the CAN in Morocco is Anis Ben Slimane. Regarding this, the national team selector indicated: "I spoke with him to explain the reasons for his absence, which are mainly due to his prolonged absence from the fields due to an injury contracted with his club, Norwich City."
Non-Convocation of Young Players
As for the non-convocation of certain young players, Sami Trabelsi believes that the time has not yet come for a number of promising elements to reinforce the ranks of the national team: "Taking the risk of integrating certain young elements during such demanding meetings, without them having notable prior experience with the A team, could, in my opinion, harm the rest of their football career."
These are the terms in which the national team selector explained the non-convocation, among others, of Salim Bouasker, goalkeeper of AS Roma, or Khalil Ayari, winger of Paris Saint-Germain, and emphasized the selection criteria: "I called up the most deserving and capable players currently able to bring added value compared to others." Sami Trabelsi made his own choices, which he will undoubtedly assume.
Upcoming Matches
For reference, the Tunisian team will play in Group C of the CAN. They will play their opening match of the tournament against Uganda on December 23 at the Moulay Abdallah stadium in Rabat, with the kick-off at 9:00 PM. The second match against Nigeria will also start at 9:00 PM on December 27, but will take place at the Complexe Sportif de Fès stadium. The national team will then return to Rabat to play the last match of the first round against Tanzania on December 30, with the kick-off at 5:00 PM.
Note that the national team will begin a training camp in Tabarka today, which will continue until December 19, the date of departure for Rabat on a special flight from Tabarka-Aïn Draham International Airport. This camp will be closed with a friendly match against Botswana on December 18.
