Tarak Dhiab

Playmaker and strategist of the Tunisia national team during the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, he learned football in the first football school set up by Abderrahman Ben Azzedine in 1966 and had Hédi Bayari and Lotfi Laâroussi as classmates. He won the schools championship in 1967, before joining AS d'Ariana, then trained at the Espérance Sportive de Tunis where he continued his entire career. He is the only Tunisian player to win the African Footballer of the Year in 1977. Wearing the number 10, he was skilled and appreciated in Tunisia. In Saudi Arabia, where he played for two seasons, he managed to win the Golden Ball. In 1987, on the occasion of his return to the national team, he managed to qualify Tunisia for the 1988 Summer Olympics by scoring two goals against the Morocco. In 1990, he said goodbye to the national team after a match against England 1−1. In January 1992, during a match between Espérance Sportive de Tunis and Juventus, Dhiab participated in the first 35 minutes of the match and showed off his talent one last time. In 2000, he was voted the best Tunisian footballer of the 20th century. After hanging up his boots, he opened a sports goods store and chaired the AS d'Ariana, before opting for the job of sports consultant on the BeIN Sports television channel. In coverage relating to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Dhiab was mentioned as Tunisia's "World Cup legend" by the BBC and as one of Tunisia's greatest World Cup players by the CBC. In 2020, he made his…

On 24 December 2011, Dhiab became Minister of Youth and Sports in the government of Hamadi Jebali, where he was assisted by a Secretary of State, Hichem Ben Jemaa. He was reappointed to the government of Ali Larayedh, where he was assisted by another Secretary of State, Fethi Touzri. Expected to be an Ennahda candidate for the 2014 Tunisian parliamentary election in the first constituency of Tunis, he did not register on the electoral lists within the required time limit to be able to apply for an elective mandate1; he was finally replaced by Nadhir Ben Ammou. His name appears on the list of ministers proposed by Habib Jemli, on 2 January 2020, as Minister of Youth and Sports.

Dhiab is now a television football analyst. He is also a businessman, and Tunisian magazine Réalités reported in 2004 that he was trying to start his own satellite sports channel. He works as a TV presenter and sports analyst for beIN Sports MENA in Doha, Qatar.

ES Tunis

Tunisian Ligue: 1974–75, 1975–76, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89 Tunisian Cup: 1978–79, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1988–89 Al-Ahli Saudi

King's Cup: 1979 Individual

Best African Footballer of the Year in 1977 Best player of the Saudi Professional League in 1983 Best Tunisian player of the century