Hatem Trabelsi (Tunisia)

It is not often that a full-back is described as his team’s star man, but so effective and adventurous is Hatem Trabelsi on the right of Tunisia’s defence that he more than justifies that tag. It will surprise no-one who has seen Trabelsi’s swashbuckling style that his football life started as a midfield player at Tunisia’s Club Sportif Sfaxien, with whom he spent the first four years of his professional career. It was later in this spell that it was decided that Trabelsi should drop back into defence, and the switch proved a masterstroke, so much so that before long the player had a host of European clubs squabbling over his signature.

Santos (Tunisia)

Agile and ruthless in front of goal, the Brazilian-born Francileudo Silva dos Santos is Tunisia’s reference point in attack. Santos flourished under Jean Fernandez, the manager of Tunisian club Etoile Sportive du Sahel, scoring 32 goals in 50 games on the way to collecting the CAF Cup in his first season. Santos was realistic about his chances of breaking into the Brazil national side, viewing them as negligible, and in December 2003 he opted for Tunisian citizenship. Tunisia have the chance to cause an upset at Germany 2006 and team coach Roger Lemerre will be relying heavily on Santos’s blistering pace and thunderbolt shot to lend some much-needed potency to his attack.