LISBON (Portugal) - Tunisia will enter the final and defining Window of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers in an unfamiliar situation, but even so the team's skipper Makram Ben Romdhane remains upbeat.

After winning just one of three games on home soil in August, the reigning African champions not only dropped to fourth in the six-team Group F behind high-flying contenders Egypt, Senegal and South Sudan, but the country's basketball federation decided to part ways with Dirk Bauermman, the man who inspired Tunisia to their third AfroBasket title 12 months previously.

Whether or not Tunisia can turn things around with new head coach Erman Kunter when they travel to Egypt for their final three games of the African Qualifiers campaign only time will tell.

"It was tough, very tough to lose those two games at home and to not take advantage of being in front of our fans to win and make another step towards to qualification to the FIBA World Cup," admitted Ben Romdhane who averaged 8.9 points, 7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in the first nine games of the current African Qualifiers campaign.

Winners of the last two editions of the African Championship, and a regular participant in world stage competitions in the last six years, Tunisia have become of the most successful basketball programs in Africa.

However, missing the train to next year's World Cup that will be held in Indonesia, Japan and Philippines would be a disappointing occurrence  for Tunisia who qualified for the 2019 World Cup in China on the back of a 10-2 mark.

 
Tunisia's current 5-4 record seems daunting, but Ben Romdhane insists "We have and we can do better, and we want to move on from that bad window [1-2 at home], as we still want to qualify for the World Cup."

The MVP of the last AfroBasket edition went saying: "The mindset is to give everything in order to win the last three games and qualify for the FIBA World Cup. Tunisia is a powerhouse, and we need to compete at the highest level in the world stage. If we don’t qualify, it would be two years without any competition for us. So that means two long years without improving and playing against the best teams in the world. As we know, other teams are improving and doing very good around the continent, and we want to stay in a winning dynamic and not be stuck on the side of the road. We want to play, we want to win, we want to keep making our compatriots proud and happy for us."

"We have to prepare the best way, we have to play as one, we have to fight like our lives depend on it. Show that we are an African powerhouse. We have to win, no matter what."

But, how did Tunisia end up in such a tough position? 

Ben Romdhane says the preparation didn't go according to plan. "We had some injuries with Salah Mejri, for example, and we didn’t do as well as we wanted to do. We are disappointed, frustrated by the results of those home games, and we have to learn from that rough patch. I don't know if we felt the pressure of playing at home or if we were less focused than before, but we didn’t do a great job, that is for sure." 

With half of the squad that gifted Tunisia their first AfroBasket title in 2011 still active in the national team, the Eagle of Carthage's golden generation feel they still have the legs, skillset to rule the game on the continent despite the latest results questioning that belief.

"Our golden generation doesn’t want to end up our career at international level on a a bad note we want to keep helping Tunisia be at the highest level. There is no doubt about that, that is our only goal. " an adamant Ben Romdhane, who was a promising 22 year-old talent back in 2011, explained.

Asked about the potential of new generation of Tunisian players, which includes the likes of 22-year-old Yacice Toumi, Oussama Marnaoui (23), and Achref Gannouni (25), Ben Romdhane who currently plays for Portugal's giants Benfica, shade light on what should be done.

"People will have to be patient with them, as we won three AfroBaskets, we went twice to the FIBA World Cup (2010 and 2019), Olympics (2012), and there is always a lot of attention and expectations for the national team. Also, the level of competitiveness is growing fast in Africa."

"Some guys are coming up and gaining importance on the national team, but we can’t really predict too much what will happen for the national team. We did set the bar high, we qualified for many competitions and the young guys are going to feel pressure because we did great things for more than a decade. We will help them as much as we can, but at the end of the day, it’s on them, on their work and commitment to the national team, and on working hard to reach their maximum potential."

Yacine Toumi 

"People will have to be patient with them, as we won three AfroBaskets, we went twice to the FIBA World Cup (2010 and 2019) and there is always a lot of attention and expectations for the national team. Also, the level of competitiveness is growing fast in Africa. "

South Sudan currently lead Group F with an 8-1 mark, Egypt come second at 7-2, Senegal appear in third place with a 6-3 record, and fourth-place Tunisia are 5-4. 

The next three games will be a do-or-die for the reigning African champions.

FIBA