The player on the receiving end of an attempted kick by Wahbi Khazri during the hot-blooded friendly between Tunisia and Costa Rica on Tuesday says that England are sure to have noted Khazri’s fiery temper and will try to lure the striker into getting himself sent off in their opening game at the World Cup.
Khazri was fortunate to escape with a yellow card after lashing out with a foot at Costa Rica’s Kendall Waston as retaliation for a series of rugged tackles by the Central American team. He went on to score the only goal but Waston says England will have been pleased by confirmation that Khazri can be provoked into acts that could lead to his dismissal.
“I think in a World Cup match he would have got a red card for kicking out at me like he did,” Waston said. “In a friendly game sometimes referees can leave it. People might look at that and think he could be wound up – and in football you have to take advantage of everything.
“When you know the type of player someone is, you try to do things that might make them crazy and see their team lose them with a red card. England will see what happened and they will try to take advantage of it.”
Khazri has been sent off for his country – against Mauritania in 2016 – for punching an opponent after a challenge he deemed overly rugged.
As well as a short fuse, Khazri has skills that make him one of Tunisia’s key players. His goal against Costa Rica crowned a fine personal performance as a central striker rather than in his customary wide role. Tunisia’s manager, Nabil Maâloul, tried him up front after seeing him do well in that position for Rennes, whom he joined last summer on loan from Sunderland.
Yohan Benalouane, Leicester City’s Tunisia defender, underlined the threat that Khazri could pose to England. “He is great for our team because he has lots of quality – he can shoot, he can dribble, he can make things happen. He will be an important player for us at the World Cup and very dangerous. England should be worried about him.”
