WHEN Ayman Ben Mohamed left Bohemians last August it was for a club whose name translates as hope.
Nearly six months in but with just one league appearance under his belt, Mohamed is in no mind to abandon his aspirations any time soon.
Last summer was a whirlwind for Mohamed, whose first name is pronounced as Eamon.
That was the compromise name for a kid born in London to an Irish mother and Tunisian father before the family moved to Dublin while he was still young.
In June, he was busy with his second-year exams in his Business, Economic and Social Studies (BESS) degree in Trinity College when he was called up to the Tunisia senior squad.
Mohamed did not feature in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Djibouti but his inclusion brought another reward, in the form of an August move to Tunisian Esperance CF for an undisclosed fee.
Esperance is the country’s biggest club, its 26 titles double that of its nearest challenger, Club Africain.
They have also won the African Champions League twice and featured in another four finals. So far, it has proven a challenge to break into the side with his only league outing coming when he started in the 0-0 draw with CS Hammam-Lif in October.
But Mohamed, 22, is far from despondent and there have been encouraging signs since Faouzi Benzarti replaced Ammar Souayah as coach.
Mohamed told SunSport: “I didn’t expect to come into the side immediately, that I would get my place easily, because it’s a very strong team, one of the top clubs in Africa.
“It’s full of international players so I expected it to be difficult but I feel I’m getting there.
“We’ve recently had a change in coach so hopefully my chance will come soon.”
Despite his lack of action on the field, he is regularly recognised on the streets of Tunis — something he was not accustomed to from his time at UCD, Longford Town and Bohs.
Mohamed said: “It’s a big club with a lot of history and people here follow their own league very closely, more so than in Ireland.
“Our stadium holds about 60,000 but since the revolution in Tunisia both sets of supporters haven’t been allowed into games because there had been some crowd trouble.
“So sometimes the crowds are limited to half or even a quarter of the capacity but, even though there are no opposition fans, the crowd definitely makes themselves heard, you know that they’re there.”
Settling in has been made easier by the fact that his grandmother and aunts and uncles on his father’s side all live in the country’s capital.
He had a basic grasp of Arabic from regular trips when he was a kid but is working hard to improve it and intends to getting around to learning French as well.
Mohamed added: “I’m living in an apartment on my own but my family have been over a lot and my grandmother lives only a half-hour away. I’ve other relatives too so that’s helped.
“I’m too busy to get lonely, it’s been pretty hectic and if I do want some company I know that I can just go over to visit family. I’m never on my own for too long.
“There’s nothing really I miss too much about Ireland other than family and friends.
“I still keep up to date on the league, and Bohs in particular, in terms of who is moving where. I would be in contact with some of my old team-mates on WhatsApp or whatever. I’ve been here nearly six months now and it’s flown by. I’m more settled now than I was.
“It was a bit difficult at the start because it’s a different culture and language but I’ve slowly adapted.
“I had a bit of the language growing up but had never done classes. I’m confident enough to get by now.
“It’s a nice place to live, the food is very good and the weather makes it easy to get out and about, so I’ve enjoyed it. It all happened so quickly. I was in the middle of my exams when the international call-up came out of nowhere.
“After that, I thought something might happen in terms of a move to a club over here and then Esperance contacted me, I signed a three-year deal and deferred my college place.”
How long before Mohamed goes back to BESS depends on how his football career progresses.
But he knows he needs to make his mark at Esperance first before he can think of a second call-up for the national team.
Four of Mohamed’s club-mates were in the international squad, which emerged from a strong group of the Africa Cup of Nations containing Algeria and Senegal.
They were knocked out by Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals.
With the Tunisian League on hold while the national team was in the competition, Mohamed spent his time playing in friendly games for the club during a training camp in Morocco.
And he said: “There is still half of the league season to go, as well as the African Champions League, the Arab Club Championship and the Tunisian Cup.
“I don’t think we’re going to get much of a rest but on the flip side, with so many games coming up I’d like to think I’d get my chance.”
The long-term goal is to get a move back to Europe but to a more prestigious competition than the League of Ireland.
Mohamed added: “Everyone’s goal is to play in one of the better European leagues and that’s the plan for me.
“You get a lot of exposure here. People from clubs in France and Spain watch the league here so you know if you do well that you will get noticed.
“I would like to get that chance at some stage but, although I would have liked to have played more, I am happy here.
“The game’s a bit different here. It’s pretty fast and played on the ground a bit more, compared to Ireland where it can be quite direct.
“But it can be as physical as Ireland. Some of the defenders are quite aggressive.
“Obviously I’m quite light but I’ve put on a bit of weight, a bit of muscle, it’s something I’m working on to try and strengthen up a bit.”