For the occasional handball fan, Tunisia is likely to sound like a minor team, an African team with technical and tactical limitations. Well, no. Whoever sees it that way, forget that thought. Those who follow this sport closely are well aware that Tunisians have been in permanent and perennial growth for many years. Since they concentrated on applying the French methodology from the grassroots, Tunisia has started to stand up to any team that comes up against them. Poland suffered the unspeakable to beat them by two goals and Brazil – which was better than Spain in the opening match of the World Cup – was able to tie them when the clock ticked the last seconds. And he almost lost on the last play.
Tunisia is not just any team. No. He has more or less the same outside shot as Spain, knows how to run the counterattack like the Balkans and defends with Nordic forcefulness, in a very deep 6-0 to compensate for a certain lack of kilos and height on the defensive wall. Where, then, are its weak points? The goal and the direction of play are very irregular and the wingers lower the level of the front row somewhat, but, perhaps, the worst thing is that they lose concentration too easily, and those absences make them very vulnerable.
Fierce, quarrelsome, unwavering in its morale, Tunisia has formed a very homogeneous group of players, in which Anouar Ben Abdallah, the right-back of the Slovenian Tratan Presov, his partner Jihed Jaballah, a pivot, and the central Mohamed Soussi, who stands out in the French Tremblay, of the second French division. The three of them form the backbone of the team. They are the only three who are active in a European club, although you should also look at Ousama Jazziri, left winger of the Egyptian club Al Ali Sports.
In attack they constantly use their support points to create superiorities, but they encounter difficulties when the defense is well established and closes the gaps towards the pivot. Despite this, they have good feints and play two-on-two situations in a more than acceptable way, especially if the pivot is in the area.
Spain is, on paper, superior to the Tunisians. But not as much as the record of both could explain. To defeat the Africans, Hispanics will not only have to maintain the tone in defense to allow counterattacks. They must also know how to manage the moments of scoring drought, an aspect of the game that always occurs with the Spanish team.
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