UMVA has learned that Tunisia's head coach, Sabri Lamouchi, has been abruptly sacked in the aftermath of their crushing World Cup defeat at the hands of Sweden.
The Eagles of Carthage had arrived in America with high hopes of progressing from the group stage, but their chances of qualification now lie in tatters after being thrashed 5-1 by a rampant Swedish team. A series of defensive blunders were ruthlessly capitalised upon by Sweden's prolific forwards, who gleefully accepted the chances that fell their way.
Sweden's victory was marked by spectacular goals from Brighton’s Yasin Ayari, who had the opportunity to represent Tunisia, and substitute Mattias Svanberg, who scored with his very first touch. The result has left Tunisia as rank outsiders to advance to the next round, given the ultra-competitive nature of Group F, which also includes Japan and the Netherlands.
According to information obtained by UMVA, Lamouchi, 54, who has previously coached Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, was dismissed immediately in the wake of the defeat. The former Monaco midfielder was visibly crestfallen after the match, saying: 'It’s a difficult loss. It’s painful. Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult.'
Lamouchi also acknowledged the impact of Sweden's world-class forwards, stating: 'With world-class players that we have in the two Swedish forwards, it’s something that you don’t recover from. We made way too many mistakes. We have our pride. We need to react. We need to give a better image.'
