Tunisian former footballer and manager
Adel Sellimi
(
Arabic
:
???? ???????
; born 16 November 1972) is a Tunisian former
football
player and current manager.
He drew inspiration from the
1978 World Cup
team who became the first African nation to win a
World Cup
match. At the age of 10, he joined his first club,
Club Africain
of
Tunis
, and he stayed there for the next 14 years, picking up two
Tunisian league
titles and one
Tunisia Cup
along the way.
He earned his first cap in September 1993, during a match against
Germany
.
Tunisians
grew to appreciate his discretion in life outside football as a modest and determined professional. On the pitch, he distinguished himself at the international level during the
1996 African Cup of Nations
finals in
South Africa
as one of the best players of the tournament. Sellimi became a household name throughout the country, a skillful and talented player who carried the team to the final of the tournament for only the second time in their history. Sellimi struck twice in the semi-final against
Zambia
and was widely considered one of the best players in the tournament.
Following another impressive performance at the
1996 Olympic Games
in
Atlanta
.,
[1]
the player was signed by French
Ligue 1
club
FC Nantes Atlantique
,
[2]
However, his relocation to
France
marked the beginning of a long dry spell. Despite being christened "The Lung" by Nantes fans due to the distance he covered during matches, he never truly settled in at his new team. In his debut season, he scored two goals in 30 games and failed to replicate the success he had at home in
Tunisia
. Sellimi departed Nantes for
Real Jaen
in the Spanish second level after another unsuccessful season in 1997/98. With his new team, he played first-class matches and mastered his form. His talents and efforts earned him a call-up to the
1998 World Cup
squad, where he flashed decent performances against
England
and
Romania
.
2. Bundesliga
side
Freiburg
took a gamble on Sellimi
[3]
and partnered the player with other Tunisian internationals, anchorman
Zoubeir Baya
and fellow striker
Mehdi Benslimane
. He took a long time to find his true form, and many at Freiburg considered him a mistaken purchase during his first year. However, he proved his detractors wrong in the best possible way in the 1999/2000 season. Sellimi just could not stop scoring goals and even headed the Bundesliga goal scoring list going into the winter break.
A disappointing 2001 led to Sellimi missing out on the
2002 African Cup of Nations
in
Mali
and several international friendlies after a fall-out with former national coach
Henri Michel
. But the Frenchman's replacement with
Ammar Souayah
coupled with the national team's goal drought brought about Sellimi's recall. The
2002 World Cup
in Korea and Japan turned out to be Adel Sellimi's swansong in premier football competitions, and he retired from international football shortly after the tournament at the age of 31. He returned to
Club Africain
shortly afterwards.
After retiring, Sellimi became a manager, working in
Tunisia
and
Qatar
.
[4]
International goals
[
edit
]
- Scores and results list Tunisia's goal tally first, the score column indicates score after each Sellimi goal
.
List of international goals scored by Adel Sellimi
No.
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Opponent
|
Score
|
Result
|
Competition
|
1
|
11 October 1992
|
Stade El Menzah
,
Tunis
, Tunisia
|
Benin
|
5?1
|
5?1
|
1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
|
2
|
20 August 1993
|
Stade Tourbillon
,
Sion, Switzerland
|
Switzerland
|
1?0
|
1?2
|
Friendly
|
3
|
26 July 1994
|
Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia
|
Tanzania
|
1?0
|
2?0
|
Friendly
|
4
|
2?0
|
5
|
15 July 1995
|
Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia
|
Senegal
|
3?0
|
4?0
|
1996 African Cup of Nations qualification
|
6
|
31 January 1996
|
Kings Park Stadium
,
Durban
, South Africa
|
Zambia
|
1?0
|
4?2
|
1996 African Cup of Nations
|
7
|
4?1
|
8
|
2 June 1996
|
Stade Regional Nyamirambo
,
Kigali
, Rwanda
|
Rwanda
|
1?0
|
3?1
|
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
|
9
|
2?0
|
10
|
16 June 1996
|
Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia
|
Rwanda
|
2?0
|
2?0
|
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
|
11
|
27 April 1997
|
Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia
|
Liberia
|
1?0
|
2?0
|
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
|
12
|
25 February 1998
|
Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia
|
Russia
|
1?2
|
2?3
|
Friendly
|
13
|
19 May 1998
|
Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia
|
Kenya
|
2?0
|
2?0
|
Friendly
|
14
|
3 June 1998
|
Parc des Sports
,
Avignon
, France
|
Iceland
|
1?0
|
3?1
|
Friendly
|
15
|
3?0
|
16
|
24 January 1999
|
Stade 5 Juillet 1962
,
Alger
, Algeria
|
Algeria
|
1?0
|
1?0
|
2000 African Cup of Nations qualification
|
17
|
10 April 1999
|
National Stadium
,
Kampala
, Uganda
|
Uganda
|
2?0
|
2?0
|
2000 African Cup of Nations qualification
|
18
|
23 January 2000
|
National Stadium
,
Lagos
, Nigeria
|
Nigeria
|
2?4
|
2?4
|
2000 African Cup of Nations
|
19
|
10 May 2002
|
Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia
|
Saudi Arabia
|
1?0
|
2?1
|
Friendly
|
20
|
20 May 2002
|
Iwate Athletic Stadium
,
Morioka
, Japan
|
Malaysia
|
4?1
|
4?3
|
Friendly
|
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]