The crowd in Adams Cafe are experiencing mixed emotions. On the one hand, this is a small gathering of London’s Tunisian community and they are here to support the old country. On the other, it is a bunch of Londoners having a few drinks in front of the football. When England mess up, there’s words of support. When Tunisia make a mistake there’s an ironic “it’s all part of the plan!” After a while, it is not always entirely clear where allegiances lie.
Established 30 years ago by Tunisian Abdel Boukra and his English wife Frances, this restaurant in Shepherd’s Bush doubles as an informal touch point for London’s Tunisian community.
With only 8,000 in the UK, their numbers are small compared to Moroccans and Algerians. Abdel’s is a good place to catch up on sport, politics, and guarantee some good couscous.
“I think one or two nil to England‚” says Sami Tounsi before the match. He’s lived in London for 15 years and works for the Tunisian tourist board. “We’re very fast, very quick on the break but we lack concentration. We give up chances and in the last 10 minutes we’re going to be kaput.”
Sami says that the national team has come to acquire an outsized importance in Tunisia in recent years. “It’s one of the few things that unites us‚” he says.
“Since the revolution [of 2010] unemployment is up, inflation is up, inequality is up. We look to the national team for some excitement.” Sounds like another country I could mention.
With the main dining room turned into one big table and flags of both countries hanging from the walls, the restaurant is just about full at kick-off. 10 minutes in and two teens with Jadon Sancho haircuts wearing Club Africain de Tunis shirts turn up to take the last two seats. The local MP arrives five minutes later and has to stand.
The game begins in a sense of collective bemusement as England spurn a hatful of chances. This is when the split loyalties of the Tunisians become clear. Of course they want their team to win, but they know the English well enough to be able to sympathise with their travails. At one point, a particularly even-handed shout goes up: “Come on Dele Alli! Come on.... give us a break!”
When Harry Kane scores his first goal, the small English contingent take it quite seriously. I ask Sami whether Tunisians take the fate of their football team as much to heart. “We are like England some times in our attitude; if we get beat it’s a big deal‚” he says. “There will be an attempt to blame someone and it will usually be the coach.”
Tunisia get their first corner in the 21st minute and, from there, a bit of confidence grows.
“That’s good, that’s Tunisia, pass the ball‚” booms a voice at the back. Abdel, meanwhile, is larking up and down the room, wearing his Tunisia shirt but wrapped in a St George’s flag.
The hitherto quiet part of the room – where the lads’ dads are sitting – explodes when Tunisia score their penalty. ‘The plan’ is definitely in effect. For the rest of the half there are ironic calls of ‘penalty’ whenever the ball comes near either box. At the interval there’s a rousing sing-along and a buffet of Tunisian tajine, pepper tapenade and deep fried calamari.
Abdel and Frances met in Paris, where he was living at the time, but they are glad they settled in England. This is the experience for much of the Tunisian expat community, Abdel says. “There’s less racism in London and Manchester than on the continent,” he says. “The French-Tunisians who come to work in London’s banks would never have that chance at home.”
In the second half everyone in the room cheers when Marcus Rashford comes on. The cheers are even louder when Ashley Young curls a decent free-kick opportunity over the bar. As sympathetic awwww-ing begins to go up each time England mess up another move, it gets more and more difficult to read the room. In fact it only becomes clear at the last.
As Harry Kane stoops to seal the win, three quarters of the room finally falls silent.
