| Noureddine Diwa | |
| Fullname: | Noureddine Ben Yahmed |
| Birth Date: | 26 February 1937 |
| Birth Place: | Tunis, Tunisia |
| Position: | Striker |
| Youthclubs1: | Espérance |
| Youthclubs2: | Stade Tunisien |
| Years1: | 1955–1962 |
| Clubs1: | Stade Tunisien |
| Caps1: | 144 |
| Goals1: | 96 |
| Years2: | 1962–1968 |
| Clubs2: | Limoges |
| Years3: | 1968–1970 |
| Clubs3: | Espérance |
| Nationalyears1: | 1956–1969 |
| Nationalteam1: | Tunisia |
| Nationalcaps1: | 23 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 9 |
Noureddine Ben Yahmed (26 February 1937 – 20 April 2020), known as Noureddine Diwa, was a Tunisian professional footballer who represented Tunisia on 23 occasions. Diwa played as a striker.
Diwa was born on 26 February 1937 in Tunis, Tunisia. His birth name was Noureddine Ben Yahmed.[1] He was nicknamed Diwa as a distortion of the Tunisian Arabic word doua which means "dilettante spirit". The nickname was given to him by Stade Tunisien founder Hamadi Ben Salem.[2] He was also nicknamed the Tunisian Kopa,[3] and the French newspaper L'Équipe nicknamed him "Petit Kopa" (little Kopa), in reference to Real Madrid player Raymond Kopa.[4] Diwa died on 20 April 2020 at the age of 83. He was buried the next day at the Jellaz Cemetery in Tunis.[4]
As a junior, Diwa played for the Espérance junior team, and later the Stade Tunisien junior team.[5] He won the 1952 and 1953 junior league with Stade Tunisien.[6] Between 1955 and 1962, Diwa played for the Stade Tunisien senior team for seven seasons, making 144 appearances and scoring 96 goals.[7] He helped Stade Tunisien reach the Tunisian National Championship,[3] scoring four goals in the promotion playoffs.[8] He was part of the Stade Tunisien team that won the 1956–57 Tunisian National Championship,[9] [10] and the National Championships in 1960–61 and 1961–62.[6] He also won four Tunisian Cups with Stade Tunisien,[9] in 1956, 1958, 1960, and 1962.[6] Diwa scored in all four Tunisia Cups victories.[11]
In 1957, he was interested in playing for French team Le Havre, but did not make the move.[7] [8] Diwa played for French Division 2 team Limoges between 1962 and 1968,[1] [7] making Diwa one of the first Tunisian players to play abroad.[3] In 1963 he scored two goals for Limoges in their Coupe de France quarter final against Stade de Reims, a match they lost 4–3 after extra time.[7]
In 1968, Diwa returned to Tunisia, to play for Espérance,[1] [7] and he played there for two seasons.[12] During that time, he won the 1969–70 Tunisian National Championship,[6] and was part of the Espérance team that lost the 1969 Tunisian Cup final to Club Africain.[11]
Diwa made 23 appearances for Tunisia[1] between 1956 and 1969.[9] He also represented Tunisia at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy.[13] It was Tunisia's first appearance in the football event at the Olympics.[5] He played in their group stage matches against Poland, Argentina and Denmark.[7]
After retiring as a player, Diwa was a coach at AS Djerba in 1972, Espérance in 1974, CS Chebba from 1978 to 1980, and Stade Tunisien in 1981.[9] [11]
Stade Tunesien
Espérance