Interview
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Adel Chedli, winner in 2004 with the Tunisian selection and become a coach, tells his stories of CAN, faxes at the factory, through painting to green the lawn.
Adel Chedli, 45, was one of the faces of normal Ligue 1 – the silent majority, the working class. Trained in Saint-Etienne, installed in Sochaux, passed by Istres, he turbines in midfield, recovery and recovery. At the gates of his thirties, he began freelancing abroad, from Germany to Morocco, until the end of his career in 2013. The native of La Ricamarie (Loire) will obtain his finest finery in the selection. With Tunisia, the country of his parents, he won the African Cup of Nations in 2004, became one of its executives and competed in a World Cup (2006). His post-career is a stack of hard knocks – “I was almost ruined”. A few months ago, he finally got out of the thick fog: Adel Chedli was appointed assistant coach of Georgia. From the first fax received from Tunis to the pizzas in Sochaux, from the ball to the factory, he recounts his journey, while Tunisia, committed to the CAN, has just easily got out of a trap match against Mauritania (4 -0).
Tunisia wins its only CAN with Roger Lemerre as coach, winner of the Euro with the France team. What did he bring?
Beyond football, the relationship he had with us was exceptional. He made you want to strip yourself for him. After our victory against Senegal in 2004 (1-0, in the quarter-finals), he brought my parents back into the locker room, which was reserved for the players – the staff wanted to protect us from the outside. That night he didn’t…