Bad operation for Tunisia. In this CAN 2021 group F match between two teams already qualified for the round of 16 before kick-off, the Carthage Eagles were beaten on the wire by Gambia (0-1) this Thursday in Limbe. Consequence: already beaten by Mali (0-1) during the 1st day, the men of Mondher Kebaier finish only 3rd in their pool and will have to face the formidable Nigeria in the round of 16, where Gambia, 2e, will have to settle for Guinea, and Mali, 1is, from Equatorial Guinea.
Heavily decimated by the Covid with notably Khazri, Sliti, Broon and Maaloul absent, the Tunisians imposed a rather sterile domination even if Abdi’s shot, deflected by Colley, and that of Rafia, which burst into the small net, worried the Scorpions . Before the break, however, Jaziri got a penalty following a foul from Jagne. The striker wanted to take justice into his own hands but came up once morest Gaye, who started on the right side (45e+1)! The 3e penalty missed in 3 games by the Carthage Eagles during this AFCON… To make matters worse, substitute goalkeeper Farouk Ben Mustapha was sent off by the referee following a collision on the way to the locker room.
After a new deflected shot from Ben Slimane which grazed the frame, the Tunisians then had even more difficulty in obtaining chances. Unlike the Gambians who were gaining momentum in the second half following their changes, like this powerful free kick from Musa Barrow which was to smash Ben Saïd’s bar. The 3e amount found by the Scorpions on a free kick in this CAN! While we thought we were heading for a draw, Ablie Jallow took advantage of a moment of hesitation following a red card awarded to a member of the Tunisian staff and the winger on loan from Metz to Seraing offered victory on the wire to the Gambia with a superb chest control-half-volley sequence in the area (1-0, 90e+3). This does not change the ranking for the Tunisians but their morale might be impacted by this poor performance. For its part, Gambia continues to surprise for its first AFCON!
Group F standings: Mali 7 points (+3), Gambia 7 points (+2), Tunisia 3 points, Mauritania 0 point
Gambia-Tunisia starting lineups
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THE TEAMS ARE REVEALED! #TeamGambia and #TeamTunisia are there! ✅ #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #CAN2021 | #GMBTUN pic.twitter.com/0lbPOTrvKQ
— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 ???? – FR (@caf_online_FR) January 20, 2022
