Adel Sellimi ( ar, عادل السليمي; born 16 November 1972) is a former football player and current manager. As a child, he drew inspiration from the

1978 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 t ...

team who became the first African nation to win a World Cup match. At the age of 10, he joined his first club, Club Africain of

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, and he stayed there for the next 14 years, picking up two Tunisian league titles and one Tunisia Cup along the way. He earned his first cap in September 1993, during a match against Germany. Tunisians grew to appreciate his discretion in life outside football as a modest and determined professional. On the pitch, he distinguished himself at international level during the

1996 African Cup of Nations The 1996 African Cup of Nations was the 20th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by South Africa, who replaced original hosts Kenya. The field expanded for the first time to 16 teams, ...

finals in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

as one of the best players of the tournament. Sellimi became a household name throughout the country, a skillful and talented bright spark who carried the team to the final of the tournament for the second time in their history. Sellimi struck twice in the semi-final against

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

, and was widely considered one of the best players in the tournament. Following another impressive performance at the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

., the player was signed by French Ligue 1 club

FC Nantes Atlantique Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as ...

, However, his relocation to France marked the beginning of a long dry spell. Despite being christened "The Lung" by Nantes fans due to the distance he covered during matches, he never truly settled in at his new team. In his debut season, he scored two goals in 30 games and failed to replicate the success he had at home in Tunisia. Sellimi departed Nantes for

Real Jaén Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Jaén, Spain, Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1929 it plays in Tercera División RFEF, holding home matches at ''Nu ...

in the Spanish second level after another unsuccessful season in 1997/98. Here he got some first-class matches and finally found his form.This surge in form earned him a call-up to the 1998 World Cup squad, where he put in steady performances against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

side

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

took a gamble on Sellimi and partnered the player with other Tunisian internationals, anchorman

Zoubeir Baya Zoubeir Baya (or Beya) (; born 15 May 1971) is a Tunisian former professional footballer with a distinguished career as one of his country's most accomplished football exports. Baya, an attacking midfielder, displayed considerable skill and enter ...

and fellow striker Mehdi Benslimane. But here too he took a long time finding his true form, and many at Freiburg considered him a mistaken purchase during his first year. However, he proved his detractors wrong in the best possible way in the 1999/2000 season. Sellimi just could not stop scoring goals and even headed the Bundesliga's goalscoring list going into the winter break. A disappointing 2001 lead to Sellimi missing out on the

2002 African Cup of Nations The 2002 African Cup of Nations was the 23rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Mali. Just like in 2000, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. C ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

and a number of international friendlies after a fall-out with former national coach Henri Michel. But the Frenchman's replacement with

Ammar Souayah Ammar Souayah ( ar, عمار السويّح) (born June 11, 1957) is a retired Tunisian footballer. Tunisia national football team In 2002, Ammar Souayah signed as the coach of the Tunisia national team and led the team at the FIFA World Cup. ...

coupled with the national team's goal drought brought about Sellimi's recall. The

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

in Korea and Japan turned out to be Adel Sellimi's swansong in premier football competitions, and he retired from international football shortly after the tournament at the age of 31. He returned to Club Africain shortly afterwards. After retiring Sellimi became a manager, working in Tunisia and Qatar.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Tunisia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sellimi goal''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sellimi, Adel 1972 births Living people Footballers from Tunis Tunisian footballers Association football forwards Club Africain players FC Nantes players Real Jaén footballers SC Freiburg players Baniyas Club players Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Ligue 1 players Segunda División players Bundesliga players UAE First Division League players Tunisian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in France Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Tunisia international footballers 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1996 African Cup of Nations players Olympic footballers of Tunisia Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Tunisian football managers AS Gabès managers AS Marsa managers Al-Khor SC managers Tunisian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Qatar Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar