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Henry Kasperczak Set To Resign As Tunisia National Team Coach

Henry Kasperczak Set To Resign As Tunisia National Team Coach

Polish coach Henry Kasperczak and the Tunisian Football Federation are set to come to an agreement in the coming days that will see him resign from his post at the helm of the North African side.

Reports in the French and Tunisian media over the weekend suggested that the 70-year-old would leave the team this month, with the federation quoted as seeking an ‘amicable divorce’, according to Football365.

This was the Pole’s second attempt at leading the Carthage Eagles, as he first coached the national team between 1994 and 1998, taking them to the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), where they reached the final before losing to host nation South Africa.

The tactician replaced Georges Leekens, the Belgian who was in charge of Tunisia at the 2015 Nations Cup, when they were eliminated in the quarter-finals in Equatorial Guinea.

The Tunisian Football Federation gave the coach a three-year contract in July 2015.

Henry Kasperczak’s failed mandate

His mandate was to qualify for and reach the semi-final stage of the 2017 AFCON in Gabon, while also qualifying the national team to take part in the 2018 World Cup, which is set to be hosted in Russia.

But Tunisia failed to reach the semis in Gabon, and were eliminated at the quarter-final stage by Burkina Faso. This month they lost 1-0 in two friendlies against Cameroon and Morocco.

The Carthage Eagles have won both of their 2018 World Cup qualifying matches thus far, sharing top spot in their group with the Democratic Republic of Congo, but that was not enough to keep coach and federation content to move forward together.

Kasperczak was coach of Mali at the 2015 AFCON, but was sacked following their failure to perform as well as expected.

The Polish coach was previously in charge of Cote D’Ivoire between 1993 and 1994, before joining Tunisia in his first stint, while he also spent time as Senegal coach.

It is unclear if there is a coach in place to immediately take over from Kasperczak, but the Tunisian authorities will likely aim to replace the outgoing coach swiftly in order for the team to settle and prepare for the upcoming World Cup and AFCON qualifiers.