Name: Tunisias head coach offers touching tribute to Moroccan hospitality
Uploaded: 2026-01-01T15:37:56.617Z
Duration: 1 min 53 s
Description: Tunisia’s head coach Sami Trabelsi has been busy. He’s led his team to a second-place finish in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Group C and qualified for the Round of 16. But he’s found time to make friends and remind AFCON fans that football is about more than what happens on the pitch.

Tunisia’s head coach Sami Trabelsi has been busy. He’s led his team to a second-place finish in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Group C and qualified for the Round of 16. But he’s found time to make friends and remind AFCON fans that football is about more than what happens on the pitch.

Rabat

Tunisia's head coach Sami Trabelsi has publicly thanked Morocco for its exceptional hospitality during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. After leading his team to a second-place finish in Group C and qualifying for the Round of 16, Trabelsi recounted a meaningful gesture involving a local security guard, to whom he gifted a symbolic Carthage Eagles jersey.

Trabelsi emphasized that the true value of football lies in the friendships and mutual respect it fosters off the pitch. He described the team's experience in Morocco as heartfelt and memorable, underscoring the deep appreciation and unity shared between the two nations, even as they prepare to resume their sporting rivalry.

Tunisia's head coach offers touching tribute to Moroccan hospitality

Tunisia's head coach Sami Trabelsi has been busy. He's led his team to a second-place finish in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Group C and qualified for Round 16. But he's still found time to make friends and remind fans that football is about more than what happens on the pitch. It began with an invitation to lunch. After a pre-match briefing at Rabat's main media centre, a security guard invited Trabelsi to join his crew for a meal. The coach refused but was touched by the gesture and didn't forget. A few days later, he returned with a gift for the man in uniform, a Carthage Eagles jersey bearing the number five. In the end, what remains in life is not the matches, they're forgotten, but the love and appreciation of the people. What we experienced in Morocco was exceptional. They made us feel not as if we were in a second country, but our first. There was real love and encouragement, and I thank them from my heart. Because what comes from the heart reaches people directly, while anything artificial has little impact. The number five shirt used to belong to a legendary player who helped deliver Tunisia's first African title before dying aged just 24. This is the jersey of Ben Ramadan, but the number five belongs to the greatest player ever to represent Tunisia, Hedi Bekissa. It holds a symbolic place in the hearts of all Tunisians. Morocco and Tunisia will go back to being rivals on the pitch, but for a moment they were united in their love of the game.

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