Sheffield Wednesday defender Yan Valery's World Cup adventure set for unexpected twist after debut
Tunisia have reportedly sacked boss Sabri Lamouchi just one game into their World Cup campaign.
Tunisia head coach Sabri Lamouchi has reportedly been sacked by the Tunisian Football Federation a little over 12 hours after their tournament opener against Sweden at the Monterrey Stadium in Mexico.
Tunisia made the worst possible start to the tournament, suffering their heaviest ever defeat at the World Cup after being beaten 5-1 by Graham Potter’s side. Goals from Yasin Ayari (2), Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyökeres and Mattias Svanberg sealed an emphatic victory for the Swedes to send them top of Group F.
Sheffield Wednesday defender Yan Valery started for Tunisia, becoming the first Owls player to appear at the World Cup finals since John Sheridan started the Republic of Ireland’s 2-0 defeat to the Netherlands in the last-16 in July 1994.
Valery, who started at right-back, stored 72 minutes under his belt before being replaced by Hadj Mahmoud. The Wednesday ace, who spent the second half of the season on loan at Swiss club BSC Young Boys, played a key role in Tunisia forcing their way back into the game, providing the pass that allowed Hannibal Mejbri to swing over a cross that was headed in by Omar Rekik to make it 2-1 just before half-time.
However, Tunisia conceded a further three goals on the other side of the break, meaning they conceded five goals in a game for the second time in their last six World Cup matches. On the previous occasion they shipped five goals they were beaten 5-2 by Belgium in their penultimate group game at the 2018 World Cup.
As a result, it is being widely reported Lamouchi, who previously managed Cardiff City and Nottingham Forest, has been sacked and will be replaced by Wahbi Khazri, who is a former Tunisian international, for the remainder of the tournament. Khazri was on the scoresheet in the aforementioned defeat to Belgium eight years ago.
Speaking after the defeat to Sweden, Lamouchi said: “It’s a tough defeat, it’s painful to start the competition with such a heavy loss. We made far too many mistakes and, with world-class players like the two Swedish forwards, that’s unforgivable."
Tunisia are back in action again at 5am BST on Sunday, taking on Japan, who drew their opening game 2-2 with the Netherlands on Sunday night, before facing the latter in their final group game at 12am BST on Friday, June 26.