Tunisia fire coach Sami Trabelsi after Mali defeat

Tunisia national team have reached a mutual agreement to part ways with coach Sami Trabelsi after the team failed to make it past the Round of 16 stage of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

The 57-yeear-old Tunisian was already facing criticism from fans despite qualifying the Carthage Eagles to the knockout stages. Their performances in the group stages was not impressive too.

A statement from Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) confirmed the departure of the coach, by saying: “The Executive Committee has decided to terminate the contractual relationship by mutual consent with the entire technical staff of the national team.”

Tunisia opened their AFCON campaign with a 3-1 victory over Uganda, a result that briefly raised hopes of a deep run. However, those hopes were quickly tempered by a 3-2 defeat to Nigeria, before a 1-1 draw with Tanzania in their final group match left lingering concerns about consistency.

In the Round of 16, they came up against Mali but were not able to take the advantage of the Eagles being reduced to 10-men. Also, despite taking the lead with only two minutes to the clock, Tunisia failed to protect the same allowing Mali to draw level from the penalty spot in added minutes.

Mali went ahead to win penalties 3-2 to qualify for the quarterfinals where they will face Senegal. The former African champions reached the stage after securing a comeback 3-1 win against Sudan.