It’s fair to say that Tunisia and Anis Slimane have not had a good showing during the Africa Cup of Nations. The Carthage Eagles finished bottom of their group after a goalless draw with South Africa on Wednesday evening.
The AFCON tournament was seen as a potential positive for Anis Slimane, who has been on the periphery of the Sheffield United squad for much of this season. It provided the attacking midfielder with an opportunity to gain some much-needed playing time and confidence. However, if anything, it’s actually gone quite the opposite.
The 22-year-old started all three group games for Tunisia and his performances were bang average at best, much like the rest of his teammates.
Slimane failed to rack up any expected goals or assists, which briefly summarises just how poorly the tournament was for him and his team. For someone who has the tools to impact a game he was a big let down, barely offering any creativity or threat for Tunisia.
He now heads back to Sheffield where he could potentially be even further down the pecking order after his AFCON showing. And especially with Sheffield United’s new signing Ben Brereton-Diaz scoring on his debut against West Ham.
Yasser Larouci’s tournament was also cut short after Algeria disappointingly failed to advance, and even more shockingly they finished bottom of their group. Larouci was an unused substitute in all three of their matches.
