Do You Remember Them? #12- Radhi Jaidi

Biodata

Full Name: Radhi Ben Abdelmajid Jaidi

Nationality: Tunisian

Date of Birth: 30 August 1975

Position: Centre Back

Former Clubs:

1993- 2004 Esperance

2004- 2006 Bolton Wanderers

2006- 2009 Birmingham City

2009- 2012 Southampton

International Career:

1996-2009 Tunisia

Achievement:

Esperance

1993- 1994 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1

1995 CAF Super Cup

1995 Afro-Asian Cup

1996 Arab Super Cup

1996- 1997 Tunisian Cup

1997 CAF Cup

1997- 1998 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1

1998 CAF Cup Winners’ Cup

1998- 1999 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1

1998- 1999 Tunisian Cup

1999- 2000 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1

2000- 2001 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1

2001 Tunisian Super Cup

2001- 2002 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1

2002- 2003 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1

2003- 2004 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1

Southampton

2010 Football League Trophy

Tunisia

2004 African Nations Cup

Career

African football is not as well-known as European football among football fans. The best-ever African national team performance in the FIFA World Cup is Senegal and Ghana that only reach Quarterfinals in the 2002 and 2010 edition. However, this continent has produced lots of football icon that contributes a lot to the football pitch. From the legends like Abedi Pele, Jay-Jay Okocha, Didier Drogba, to the current generations like Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, the African football always produced world-class talent to grace the pitch. There is still some national icon that still gone under the radar, including this national icon from Tunisia.

Radhi Jaidi starting his professional football career at one of the biggest clubs in Tunisia, Esperance Sportive de Tunis at the age of 18. During his stay in this Tunis based club, he had won several tournaments including CAF Champions League and a record seven consecutive league titles. Jaidi also was influential in driving Esperance unprecedented success as a captain. Despite playing in Tunisia, Jaidi also had attracted the attention of the European clubs such as Bastia and Bayer Leverkusen. In his almost a decade stay in Esperance, Jaidi was also the mainstay in the national team. Jaidi is the most influential player in the national team in several tournaments.

The peak of Jaidi’s footballing career is definitely his contribution that helps Tunisia national team to the 2004 African Nation Cup. He had played every single minute bar the game against DR Congo in the group stage, which Tunisia only conceded 4 goals in 6 games in the whole tournament. After announcing himself in this tournament, several European clubs had drawn their interest to sign him. In July 2004, Jaidi signed for Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer. He was the first-ever Tunisian player to sign for a Premier League club. His two seasons in Bolton Wanderers had also activated his scoring abilities too. In these two seasons, Jaidi scored 8 goals as a centre back. In the summer of 2006, Jaidi joined Birmingham City. He helped Birmingham City to get promoted to the Premier League in the first season. However, Jaidi couldn’t help his team to prevent relegation in the next season.

Jaidi’s performance in Birmingham was not convincing enough to offer another deal when his contract expired. In August 2009, he passed medical and agreed personal terms with League One side Southampton, but the transfer stalled due to the issue surrounding his eligibility for a work permit. Fortunately, Jaidi received his international clearance on September 2009. He helped Southampton to gain promotion to EFL Championship in his second season in the South Coast. However, Jaidi still struggled to gain game time in St. Mary’s Stadium due to injuries and lack of form in his last season in Southampton. He retired at the end of the 2011-2012 season, in which also coincide with Southampton promotion to the Premier League.

Post Retirement

Five years after his retirement, Jaidi became the head coach of Southampton under-23. Many of the current Southampton first-team players such as Yan Valery and Michael Obafemi had trained under him. On November 2019, An American team Hartford Athletic had hired Jaidi as their Head Coach of the 2020 USL season. Jaidi hopes that this job would boost his chance to return to coach in Europe in future. His ultimate goal is to be the first African coach to coach a Premier League side.