Benalouane aiming for another shock

YOHAN BENALOUANE is just like the rest of us — he spends an inordinate amount of time on his phone.

But the usually fevered WhatsApp exchanges between Benalouane and two of his Leicester City team-mates have gone dark. In England, Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire count as close friends. But in Russia, they are the opposition. As the clock ticks down to Tunisia’s World Cup opener with Gareth Southgate’s side tomorrow, the chatter died.

‘For sure there will be some time-out,’ said Benalouane. ‘Jamie is the joker every time but not in this time.’

The 31-year-old is one of two England-based players in the Tunisia squad but the other, Wahbi Khazri, spent the past season farmed out in France from Sunderland. So, in truth, Benalouane stands out as the sharpesteyed scout for the Eagles of Carthage.

Benalouane has had more time to scout from the sidelines than he would like. He moved to the Midlands in 2015 after a five-year stint in Serie A, becoming Claudio Ranieri’s first signing at Leicester. He started three of the first four games of a season that would go down as one of the most startling in sporting history. But he’s played just 26 times since.

‘You enjoy life a lot more when you’re playing,’ said Benalouane. ‘But I have enjoyed life in England. The people in Leicester love me and I love the public there.’

Tunisia play a rapid counter-attacking game that can flummox defences and ally it with a tight, tenacious defensive approach that tries to keep openings to a minimum. Sound a little like another side that stunned the world not too long ago?

‘We have our quality. We try to play good football, not negative,’ said Benalouane. ‘We are new to the competition, not well known, we can surprise everyone, surprise the world.

‘This is what we did at Leicester. Nobody saw it (coming). Hopefully we can make another Leicester happen.’