Adel Sellimi


Adel Sellimi is a former Tunisian football striker and a current manager.

Career

Sellimi reportedly drew inspiration from the 1978 World Cup team who became the first African nation to win a World Cup match. He joined his first club at the age of 10, Club African of Tunis, and he stayed there for the next 14 years, picking up two Tunisian league titles and one Tunisia Cup along the way.
Sellimi earned his first cap in September 1993 in a friendly against football team|Germany].
His performances during the 1996 African Cup of Nations finals in South Africa in which Tunisia reached the final, helped increase his profile there. Sellimi scored in the semi-final against Zambia.
Following a good overall appearance at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Sellimi was signed by French Ligue 1 club FC Nantes Atlantium, However, his relocation to France marked the beginning of what was considered a 'dry spell.' Despite being christened "The Lung" by Nantes fans due to the distance he covered during matches, some thought that he didn't seem to settle in at his new team. In his debut season, he scored two goals in 30 games and failed to replicate the goal-scoring he had at home in Tunisia. Sellimi departed Nantes for Real Jaén in the Spanish second division in 1998. He regained his earlier form as he scored 32 goals in 48 games for Real Jaén.
2. Bundesliga side Freiburg brought Sellimi in 1999 and partnered him with other Tunisian internationals, anchorman Zoubeir Baya and fellow striker Mehdi Benslimane. He took a while to find his earlier form, and many fans at Freiburg considered him a mistaken purchase during his first year. He gained promotion with Freiburg to the Bundesliga in 2000. He regained some of his goal-scoring prowess and headed the Bundesliga goal scoring list going into the winter break of 2000/01.
A not-as-expected 2001 led to Sellimi missing out on the 2002 African Cup of Nations in Mali and several international friendlies after a fall-out with former national coach Henri Michel, but the Frenchman's replacement with Ammar Souayah coupled with the national team's so-called 'goal drought' brought about Sellimi's recall in hopes of him contributing more goals too the national team. The 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan turned out to be in what some would say as 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 for several clubs in Tunisia and Qatar.

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
111 October 1992Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia5–15–11994 [FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)]
220 August 1993Stade Tourbillon, Sion, Switzerland1–01–2Friendly
326 July 1994Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia1–02–0Friendly
426 July 1994Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia2–02–0Friendly
515 July 1995Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia3–04–01996 [African Cup of Nations qualification]
631 January 1996Kings Park Stadium, Durban, South Africa1–04–21996 African Cup of Nations
731 January 1996Kings Park Stadium, Durban, South Africa4–14–21996 African Cup of Nations
82 June 1996Stade Régional Nyamirambo, Kigali, Rwanda1–03–11998 FIFA [World Cup qualification (CAF)]
92 June 1996Stade Régional Nyamirambo, Kigali, Rwanda2–03–11998 [FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)]
1016 June 1996Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia2–02–01998 FIFA World Cup qualification
1127 April 1997Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia1–02–01998 FIFA World Cup qualification
1225 February 1998Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia1–22–3Friendly
1319 May 1998Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia2–02–0Friendly
143 June 1998Parc des Sports, Avignon, France1–03–1Friendly
153 June 1998Parc des Sports, Avignon, France3–03–1Friendly
1624 January 1999Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Alger, Algeria1–01–02000 African [Cup of Nations qualification]
1710 April 1999National Stadium, Kampala, Uganda2–02–02000 African Cup of Nations qualification
1823 January 2000National Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria2–42–42000 African Cup of Nations
1910 May 2002Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia1–02–1Friendly
2020 May 2002Iwate Athletic Stadium, Morioka, Japan4–14–3Friendly