MONASTIR (Tunisia) – A huge task stands tall against Coach Amine Rzig as he steps out with the Tunisia team for the 2023 FIBA U16 African Championship in Monastir for the first time at this level.

While he believes that the pressure of playing at home before the home fans will be a positive energy, he has the task of translating it to the players for the ultimate prize.

The former national team player - who began his coaching career as an assistant to the national team in 2019 - admits that his players are their biggest opponents in the championship other than the other nine teams.

Rzig notes that if they keep the right energy and remain focused, then winning the title for the first time and getting a FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup ticket is a possibility.

The former Olympian has to his credit winning the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket as an assistant Coach Dirk Bauermann.

He e is optimistic his players can get the job done despite a 78-59 to Rwanda on the opening day of the championship.

"This is our first competition in this category in a long time and playing at home before the fans is a big boost for them rather than pressure. A winning start at this level for the kids will go a long way in shaping their careers too and a great motivation to getting a qualification for the World Cup."

While admitting that 5-time champions Egypt, Mali, Angola are some of the strongest contenders and not ruling any of the other teams out for the title, he says Tunisia is the biggest opponent to themselves in the Championship.

"Let me explain what I mean; as a team, we have worked hard and the players have sacrificed a lot. They are determined to give a good and credible performance but that is only if they do things according to plan, then we can beat every other team to the title. It will be a good motivation for them as they start off their career in basketball."

In his playing days which ran from 1998 to 2019, Rzig - who was a decent shooting guard - was a member of the Tunisia national basketball team that finished third at the 2009 FIBA Africa Championship to qualify for the country's first FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2010 in Turkey.

Rzig was part of the Tunisian golden generation which interrupted Angola's continental dominance in mid 2010s when they won their first-ever FIBA AfroBasket title in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

His international debut as a head coach happened in 2019 when he led his country to a Seventh-Place finish at FIBA AfroCan in Bamako, Mali.

FIBA