With Nigeria utterly disgraced, Egypt humiliated and Morocco pummelled, Africans now hinge their hope on the Eagles of Tunisia to tame the Three Lions of England in the Group G encounter tonight in Volgograd.
England are wary of the Africans and never to be complacent against the Tunisians who are in high spirits to keep Africa’s flag flying in spite of three defeats already.
But the snag is that Tunisia have the longest active World Cup winless streak of any side competing in Russia, with no wins in 11 games. But Tunisia booked the World Cup ticket without a defeat in the African qualifiers. They are 21st in the FIFA rankings, the highest of any African team, with England nine places above them in 12th. Eight years ago, England could only draw 0-0 with Tunisia’s North African neighbours, Algeria, in the group stages of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
A former Tunisia captain, Radhi Jaidi, has warned that the Three Lions’ Group G opponents are in “high spirits”. The ex-Premier League defender believes England’s “new mentality” makes them dangerous opponents as well.
Jaidi said: “Probably all that can go against the younger boys is an excess of confidence because they’re playing against Tunisia.”
However Jaidi, who played for Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers, believes the current England team could buck the trend of under-achieving in major tournaments.
“Before the kick off, people will think England is the same story (penalty problems) and they’ll get to the second round if they’re lucky and that’s it,” said the 42-year-old.
“But there’s something new in this team. They’re young and ambitious and want to prove themselves to the world. They have a new mentality.
“Despite their age they have experience playing in some of the best leagues in the world and they have proven themselves every week.”
Nabil Maaloul’s Tunisia drew in their World Cup warm-up fixtures against Turkey and Portugal before losing their final game 1-0 to Spain.
Asked whether Tunisia would take a similar approach against England Jaidi said: “I think you need to be realistic from a technical and tactical point of view.
“I was in the Tunisia camp the other day and I had a chat with the manager and the spirit is really high and the confidence is there.”
Jaidi believes they can prosper if they
“What we probably need is a bit of concentration in both boxes,” he said. “In the final third when we manage to play our football we need to concentrate more and get those chances.
“In the Spain game we had at least three clear chances before we conceded the goal.
“The concentration level in the first two games had to be as high as possible. “Hopefully Tunisia can do it,” he said. “I say hopefully because in my country we say “inshallah” which means God’s wish.
“My heart is telling me Tunisia but my brain is telling me England.”
