Aymen Mathlouthi
 Mathlouthi with Tunisia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aymen Mathlouthi | ||
| Date of birth | 14 September 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Tunis, Tunisia | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Étoile du Sahel | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–2001 | Club Africain | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2003 | Club Africain | ||
| 2003–2018 | Étoile du Sahel | 302 | (0) |
| 2018 | Al-Batin | 7 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Club Africain | 5 | (0) |
| 2019 | Al-Adalah | 10 | (0) |
| 2020– | Étoile du Sahel | 1 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007–2019 | Tunisia | 67 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:44, 17 July 2019 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11:43, 17 July 2019 (UTC) | |||
Aymen Mathlouthi (Arabic: أيمن المثلوثي; also known as Balbouli, born 14 September 1984) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Étoile du Sahel.
Regarded by pundits as the best goalkeeper in Tunisia and one of the best in Africa of all-time, he is famous for controlling the ball with his feet and dribbling inside the penalty area. Mathlouthi won the 2011 African Nations Championship held in Sudan. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) chose Mathlouthi as the best goalkeeper in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations held in Equatorial Guinea so he was in the CAF Team of the Tournament. He is known for his impressive performance during the 2007 CAF Champions League by holding many clean sheets during this competition despite being 23 years old.
Club career[]
From his earliest years, Mathlouthi joined the team's training center in his hometown (Djebel Lahmar in El Omrane), at the "Jeunesse Sportive d'El Omrane", where he trained as a goalkeeper.
In 1995, he decided to join Club Africain. In 2001, he joined the senior team of the team and stayed with them for 2 years. Later, he joined Étoile du Sahel based in Sousse in 2003 and achieved all possible national and continental glory at the club. He also participated at the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan and finished in fourth place after defeating Mexican team CF Pachuca in the quarter-finals 1–0.
On 27 January 2018, he joined Saudi club Al-Batin on a free transfer.[2] On 23 July 2018, he returned to Club Africain, where he started his professional career, in a two-year deal. He later returned to Saudi Arabia, this time to Al-Adalah and then came back to Étoile du Sahel.[3]
International career[]
Mathlouthi received his first call-up with the Tunisia national football team for the first time to replace Adel Nefzi in a 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against the Seychelles on 23 March 2007. Since then, he has played constantly.[4] He participated in all editions of Africa Cup of Nations since 2010 and 2011 African Nations Championship.
In June 2018 he was named in Tunisia’s 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[5][6] After sitting on the bench of two matches, he was finally given the chance to make his historic World Cup debut in the final game against Panama due to injuries of Mouez Hassen and Farouk Ben Mustapha.
Personal life[]
Mathlouthi married on 13 May 2016. He celebrated his wedding in Sousse surrounded by his family and friends from Étoile du Sahel and the Tunisian team.
Career statistics[]
International[]
- As of 17 July 2019[7]
| Tunisia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2007 | 1 | 0 |
| 2008 | 7 | 0 |
| 2009 | 3 | 0 |
| 2010 | 7 | 0 |
| 2011 | 6 | 0 |
| 2012 | 11 | 0 |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | 4 | 0 |
| 2015 | 9 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 |
| 2017 | 10 | 0 |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 67 | 0 |
Honours[]
Club[]
ES Sahel
- Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1: 2007, 2016
- Tunisian Cup: 2012, 2014, 2015
- CAF Champions League: 2007
- CAF Confederation Cup: 2006, 2015
- CAF Super Cup: 2008
- African Cup Winners' Cup: 2003
International[]
Tunisia
Individual[]
Mathlouthi was named in the substitutes of the 2016 CAF Team of The Year, but was the First-Choice Goalkeeper in 2017.[8]
References[]
- ^ "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ @albatinclub (27 January 2018). "WELCOME أيمن المثلوثي