Tarak Dhiab ( ar, طارق ذياب, born January 15, 1954) is a former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

from Tunisia. The

African Footballer of the Year African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

in 1977, he is listed by the

Tunisian Football Federation The Tunisian Football Federation ( ar, الجامعة التونسية لكرة القدم, french: Fédération Tunisienne de Football, FTF) is the governing body of football in Tunisia. It was established in 1957. It became a member in the FIFA ...

as having 107 caps for the

Tunisian national football team The Tunisia national football team ( ar, منتخب تونس لكرة القدم; ) represents Tunisia in men's international association football. The team is a member of both FIFA and CAF, the Confederation of African Football. It is govern ...

, although this number has not been ratified by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was foun ...

. At the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

, he was a member of the Tunisian national team that was the first national team from African to win a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

match. Tarak Dhiab was chosen The Tunisian footballer of the 20th century. He has served as Minister of Youth and Sports under

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is n ...

Hamadi Jebali Hamadi Jebali ( ar, حمادي الجبالي, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Move ...

since December 24, 2011.

Biography

Early life

Dhiab's football talent was discovered by his uncle, Hedi Dhiab.

Soccer career

Dhiab assumed the midfield role with superb passing skills and an excellent scoring record from midfield. He formed a sound understanding with winger

Témime Lahzami Témime Ben Abdallah (born 1 January 1949 in Hammam-Lif) commonly known as Témime Lahzami is a former Tunisian football winger. He was the captain of Tunisia's 1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World ...

both at Espérance and on the Tunisian national team. Dhiab was awarded the

title in 1977 and played a pivotal role in helping Tunisia qualifying for the

. At the World Cup, Tunisia won a group stage match 3–1 against Mexico, becoming the first national team from Africa to win a match at the

. In coverage relating to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, Dhiab was mentioned as Tunisia's "World Cup legend" by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

and as one of Tunisia's greatest World Cup players by the CBC. He is widely regarded as one of Tunisia's all-time greats, and arguably the greatest midfield playmaker the country has produced. Though he never played in a major European league, many believe he was able to hold his own among international playmakers in this period. Dhiab's international career spanned 15 years; his final international match came against England in 1990.

Personal life

Dhiab's younger brother Lassad Dhiab also followed his footsteps and joined Esperance, having a productive career. Dhiab is now a television football analyst. He is also a businessman, and Tunisian magazine ''Réalités'' reported in 2004 that he was trying to start his own satellite sports channel. He works as a TV presenter and sports analyst for beIN Sports MENA in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, Qatar.

Honours

Personal

* Best

in 1977 * Best player of the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associa ...

in 1983 * Best Tunisian player of the century

Clubs

* Win the Tunisian Ligue six times in 1975, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989 with

ES Tunis Es, ES, or similar may refer to: Arts and entertainment * An alternate name for the musical note E♭ (E-flat) * '' E's'', a manga series by Satoru Yuiga * ''Es'' (film), the German title of ''It'', a 1966 West German film directed by Ulrich Scha ...

* Win the

Tunisian President Cup The Tunisian Cup , officially named the President's Cup, is the official competition of the Cup in Tunisian football and is considered the second most important local title after the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1. The first cup competition was h ...

five times in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1989 with

* Win the Saudi King's Cup in 1983 with Al-Ahli SC * Runner-up in the 1986 Arab Club Champions Cup with

National team

* Participation

in Argentina * Participation in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhiab, Tarak 1954 births Living people Tunisian footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players Tunisia international footballers Olympic footballers of Tunisia Association football midfielders Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1978 African Cup of Nations players 1982 African Cup of Nations players African Footballer of the Year winners Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Espérance Sportive de Tunis players Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Saudi Professional League players Competitors at the 1975 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1983 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Tunisia Mediterranean Games medalists in football Tunisian expatriates in Qatar