Tunisia strike late to beat Algeria

Posted On Wednesday, 23rd January 2013

Chadi Hammami of Tunisia takes on Mehdi Mostefa of Algeria

Tunisia got their 2013 Africa Cup of Nations campaign off to a great start when they defeated Algeria 1-0 in their Group D clash at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Tuesday night.

Sami Trabelsi’s side went into the match as underdogs and were under pressure for most parts of the game until a late goal from Youssef Msakni helped them to secure all three points.

Tunisia were forced into making an early substitution in the 16th minute as their danger-man Issam Jemaa had to leave the field due to a knee injury.

Then Algeria started to see more of the ball in the 23rd minute Foued Kadir did well to bring down a long pass before cutting in from the left, but his final shot lacked the pace to trouble the Algerian goalkeeper Moez Ben Cherifa.

Six minutes later Sofiane Feghouli beat his marker for pace on the left before squaring the ball towards Islam Slimani, but his headed effort came off the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten.

The Fennec Foxes continued to ask all the questions and in the 33rd minute Foued Kadir should have done better after receiving a pass from Feghouli inside the box, but he blasted his shot wide.

Then two minutes before the break Tunisia fired their first shot on target when a quick break saw Msakni releasing Saber Khelifa on the right, but his shot was parried away by Rais Mbolhi.

Vahid Halilhodzic’s side came back from the break with the same intent as the first half and in the 56th minute Mesbah was unlucky to his low strike going just wide of the post with the goalkeeper diving very late.

Twelve minutes later Guedioura showed why he was regarded as one of the promising players in the Algerian squad when he unleashed a powerful shot from a distance, but Ben Cherifa was relieved to see the ball flying just over the crossbar.

Then in the 75th minute Tunisia were almost gifted a goal as the Algerians gave away possession to Oussama Darragi, who then found another substitute Hamdi Harbaoui on the right, but he lost his composure and fired wide.

Nonetheless, the Carthage Eagles grabbed maximum points in spectacular fashion in the first minute of added time when Msakni collected the ball outside the box before curling his right-footed shot towards the top right corner.

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READERS COMMENTS

Chu says:

January 23, 2013 at 7:50 am

Oooooooh my M’sakni u tooooooooo much

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Gimli says:

January 23, 2013 at 6:05 pm

Now, there is an interesting team to watch! Tactically, Tunisia has been the team that has impressed me the most so far. I know that they are, historically, the most disciplined amongst the maghreb teams, but i didn’t expect them to be that good! Maybe this generation has come of age and it is time for them to shine and produce something big in this tournament. It remains to be seen. There were times while watching the match, when i was wondering, “is this a tunisian version of Shehata’s 2006-2010 Egypt?” Or are they most likely something in between that egyptian contingent and Ghana 2010? I was looking at their midfielders. Always moving while not possessing the ball, changing their markings, covering spaces. Compare that to poor Boateng left completelly exposed by Wakaso/Badu in the first congolese goal. Exemplary way of approaching a football match and flawless coaching! I think Trabelsi has put up a strong side. You could see that every time they had their side backs on attacking positions, the two defensive midfielders provided a cover for the central defense, otherwise they would have their lines close in the axis and exchange short passes, with players coming from the back to fill in the opponent’s box. Very disciplined and compact, they knew exactly what they were seeking on the pitch. They may lack a good striker but this is not always a key factor to determine a team’s fortunes in a tournament like this. Not when everything else seems to work as planned. And there is definetely a plan in this tunisian team. The algerian team, though not as indisciplined as other times, failed to impress me. I don’t trust at all their coach to deliver. I remember him, when he had to face Algeria, while coaching CIV. I remember he got so paniced in that match, back in 2010 AFCON(quarters), that at one point, he pulled off all his midfielders that had a lateral movement and only left on the field, Yaya Toure with 5 strikers! I still remember the party the Algerians had from the flanks that evening. Dreadful coaching and also yesterday, i didn’t quite understand what he wanted his team to play on the pitch. Now, he’ll have to beat CIV as an algerian coach for a place in the next round. How times change!

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