Upon returning to Lennoxtown this week, Seb Tounekti discovered himself to be a person in demand. It’s a scenario which is unlikely to alter because the World Cup attracts nearer.
The worldwide break took the Tunisian throughout the Atlantic to Toronto, the place his nation confronted Haiti then one among this summer season’s co-hosts, Canada.
Not solely did the winger achieve an perception into the opponent Scotland will face of their Group C opener in Boston, he registered his first worldwide objective in opposition to them to safe a morale-boosting win.
For the likes of Kieran Tierney and Tony Ralston, this first-hand expertise of dealing with the Caribbean nation was pure gold. And whereas the preliminary debrief again at Celtic’s coaching floor contained a warning that Steve Clarke’s facet are about to face a gifted facet, Tounekti noticed no grounds to recommend Scotland can not get off to a successful begin.
‘They requested a little bit bit immediately,’ mentioned Tounekti. ‘They needed to understand how they had been and I advised them they’re a facet who play some good soccer.
‘While you go to the World Cup, all people can beat all people. They’re a very good staff. They’ve picked up some new gamers lately. They’re rather a lot stronger now than they had been some months in the past.
Tounekti performs his half for Tunisia in opposition to Scotland’s World Cup opponents, Haiti, in a pleasant
‘They performed some actually good soccer. However Scotland have an awesome probability to win in opposition to them.’
With the curtain arising on the best present on earth on June 11, Tounekti’s first worldwide objective couldn’t have come at a greater time. With friendlies in opposition to Austria and Belgium but to come back, the Celtic man seems set to make supervisor Sabri Lamouchi’s 26-man squad.
‘You possibly can think about it was a particular second for me,’ he recalled. ‘I’ve performed just a few video games now and been ready on my first objective. The timing wasn’t dangerous.
‘It’s all the time nice to get your first objective — the celebration was good. It was particular for me and my household.’
Tunisia made quick work of qualifying, drawing simply one among their 10 matches in CAF Group A.
As if the prospect of dealing with Daizen Maeda’s Japan and the Netherlands wasn’t thrilling sufficient, Tounekti is now considering the prospect of tackling Benjamin Nygren’s Sweden in Group F following their unbelievable final gasp win over Poland.
‘I used to be actually blissful for Benjy and Sweden that they got here by way of,’ he mentioned. ‘Will probably be a particular second to play in opposition to him in our opening sport.
‘Me and Benjy are actually shut. It’s going to be enjoyable to play in opposition to him. We all know one another rather well. We have now a life which is admittedly busy with coaching and video games, however we attempt to do one thing collectively if we’ve time without work.
‘He has been vital for us this season and in addition for Sweden. He gives assists and objectives virtually each sport.
‘He’s in nice form, nice type and can be actually vital for us within the subsequent video games. I hope he can sustain his type.
‘Enjoying Japan may even be wonderful. They are going to be actually robust. They’re perhaps underdogs, however they’re one of many nations which may do rather well.
The winger is again in Scotland and is passing on what he realized to his Celtic team-mates
‘I noticed a little bit of them in opposition to Scotland and England. They’re a very nice facet with a number of tempo up prime and many nice gamers. They will do rather well. However they’ve a tough group.’
In addition to Alistair Johnston’s Canada, who Tunisia drew 0-0 with, Celtic supporters may even have an curiosity in how Auston Trusty and Yang Hyun-jun fare with the USA and South Korea, respectively.
Tounekti feels this robust illustration displays effectively on the platform Celtic supply.
‘Should you play for a membership like Celtic, you’ve gotten an awesome probability to characterize your nation,’ he mentioned. ‘To have so many gamers concerned in a large summer season is nice for everyone.
‘Everyone is trying ahead to it — however there are nonetheless some months to go. We have now so many vital matches right here that it’s tough to deal with it now.’
For all involved, a lot water will circulate below the bridge at membership degree earlier than then. A loss a Tannadice previous to the worldwide break was the third time Celtic suffered a defeat on Tayside this season, with a special supervisor on the helm on every event.
Having slipped and stumbled to eight league defeats so far, the prospect of chalking up one other one doesn’t bear fascinated by.
‘They’ve proven by way of the entire season that they’re an awesome facet,’ mentioned Tounekti of Steven Pressley’s facet.
‘We performed them at residence within the cup they usually did rather well. We have now loads of respect for them. We all know we’ve to be at our greatest to get three factors. We have now to get collectively now and I really feel the group is admittedly robust. We have now to maintain going.
‘It’s a large sport. It’s tight on the prime. It’s not so good of us to attempt to consider Hearts or Rangers. We simply must attempt to deal with ourselves. We have now to go on the market and play our greatest soccer. We all know if we play our greatest soccer, we’ve a large probability to take the three factors. That’s the objective.
‘We have now many vital matches now, however Sunday is crucial one. Going out and getting three factors is crucial factor.’
