Adel Sellimi

Adel Sellimi (Arabic: عادل السليمي; 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 bright spark who carried the team to the final of the tournament for 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 Jaén in the Spanish second level after another unsuccessful ason in 1997/98. Here he got some first-class matches and finally found his form. This surge in form earned him a call-up to the 1998 World Cup squad, where he put in steady 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's goalscoring 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]