Ayari haunts Tunisia with brace in 5-1 Sweden drubbing

RIYADH: “My son wanted to play for Tunisia, but I asked him to represent Sweden instead, as it is the country that welcomed and developed him,” said Yasin Ayari’s father, Azzouz, in May in an interview with Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

“It was his duty to give something back.”

And give back he did.

Ayari took just seven minutes to open his World Cup account with Sweden, picking the ball up outside the area before unleashing a belter into the far corner.

Yet despite the stunning effort, Ayari held his hands aloft, refusing to celebrate despite the swarm of yellow and blue that engulfed him. The young midfielder had just scored against the very team that had courted him for years.

It was a dagger in the hearts of Tunisian fans. The Eagles of Carthage are Africa’s joint second-most represented nation in World Cup history, but unlike Cameroon with eight appearances and Morocco with seven, they have never progressed beyond the group stage.

Missing out on talented dual-nationality players like Ayari is exactly the type of setback that has hampered their pursuit of that breakthrough. Hatem Ben Arfa was among those courted by Tunisia before opting for France, while World Cup winner Sami Khedira was also eligible for the Eagles of Carthage but chose Germany early on.

Tunisia did have one dual-nationality player in midfield who chose a different path. Rani Khedira, brother of Sami, lined up in the heart of midfield for the Eagles of Carthage for his World Cup debut.

Khedira partnered with Ellyes Skhiri and Hannibal Mejbri in midfield, forming a central trio ahead of Tunisia’s back five and behind Elias Saad and Anis Slimane. The starting lineup left Tunisians scrambling to work out exactly what formation coach Sabri