Widely seen as one of the best Tunisian coaches of his generation, Sami Saïdi was unveiled by the Tunisian Handball Federation this week as their new men’s senior coach.

Replacing the Spaniard Toni Gerona, who left to take over the head coach role of the Serbia men’s team, Saïdi is just the second Tunisian-born coach to lead the men’s team since 2009, following the 2016-17 spell of Hafedh Zouabi. Saïdi will be assisted by Omar Khedira.

He left United Arab Emirates’ club Al Ahli in Dubai to take the role, a club he joined in June 2019. Before that, he was with Tunisian club Étoile Sportive du Sahel H.C. (ES Sahel), signing a two-year contract in July 2016, before extending it to June last year. He then guided the team to victory at the 2019 CAHB Men’s African Championship of Champion Clubs in Morocco.

It was his second spell coaching the Tunisian club side after he took charge from 2011 to 2013 in a successful period where he guided the team to two continental titles – the CAHB Men’s African Championship of Champion Clubs and CAHB Men’s African Super Cup, plus their first and only appearance at the IHF Men’s Super Globe, in 2013, where they finished fourth after losing to HSV Hamburg in the semi-finals.

Most recently, the Tunisian men’s team, known as ‘The Eagles of Carthage’, finished 12th at the 2019 IHF Men’s World Championship and finished as runners-up at home in the 2020 CAHB Men’s African Championship in January, losing 27:23 to Egypt.

Saïdi’s first task will be to prepare his team for the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship, which will be held in the fellow North African nation Egypt in January, before the crucial IHF Tokyo 2020 Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament in March, where Tunisia will face Portugal, France and Croatia in Paris, France.

For more information about the Tunisian Handball Federation, visit their official website. 

Photo: Atef Ammari