Tunisia 1-0 Algeria: Tunisia steals victory with Halilhodzic’s blessing

The Algerian national football team was beaten Tuesday by Tunisia who earned three points. Many opportunities to scoring were missed by Algeria during the match.

Algeria’s first attempt to scoring was by Kadir in the 14th minute but the ball was caught by goal Ben Cherifia. A minute later, the same player went to the left side of the pitch and kicked the ball to his teammate Slimani who missed it.

The Tunisian players seemed afraid of Algeria’s consistent attacking play and pressure on their defense.

In the 22nd minute, Kadir tried to scouring after he had received the ball from Lahcen. Yet, he did not score a goal although he was in a good position.

The most serious scouring attempt was in the 28th minute when Kadir received the ball from Mesbah on the left side and kicked it to Slimani. Unfortunately, the ball hit the horizontal crossbar saving the Tunisian team from a goal.

Algeria’s pressure continued on Tunisia’s defense players. The ball arrived to Feghouli who kicked it toward Kadir but the scoring attempt was unsuccessful.

In the 42nd minute, the Tunisian players counter-attacked and the ball arrived to Harbaoui on the right side. He kicked but Algeria’s goal Mbolhi was in the right place and caught the ball.

In the second half, both teams were less performing as they were prudent. Tunisia tries to maintain the draw by reinforcing defense and counter-attacks. Algeria tries to scoring but all their attempts were unsuccessful.

In the 56th minute, Mesbah kicked the ball in an attempt to scoring but it was a few centimeters far from the goal.

Tunisia responded in the 66th minute as Derradji sent the ball to Al Ifa who kicked it to Harbaoui. Yet, Mbolhi pushed the ball to a corner. The national team regained control and had another opportunity in the 69th minute. Lahcen sent the ball to Guedioura who kicked it but did not score.

In the 74th minute, there Tunisia’s most serious attempt after a mistake from Medjani.

Algeria had two more opportunities by Slimani (83rd mn) who received the ball on the left side from Souidani but could not score. In the 85th minute, Mesbah kicked the ball from a sideline to Lahcen who failed to score as well.

In the last minute of the game, Youcef Msakni kicked the ball and scored a goal multiplying Tunisia’s chances to qualification.

Halilhodzic shocked

Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic was shocked Msakni’s goal. He stayed on substitute seats although everyone left the pitch.

Tunisia coach: “our players beat Algeria thanks to their tactical maturity”

Tunisia coach Sami Trabelci said there was high competition in Tuesday’s match and his players made the difference “thanks to their experience and tactical maturity.”

“There was a high technical level and competition between the brother teams in this match. I congratulate the Tunisian team for victory and even Algeria who played a good game.”

“We made some mistakes in the first half. There was no balance in attack but we corrected them in the second half. Thanks to our players’ tactical maturity, we beat Algeria,” he added.

He also said his players should forget about that victory and concentrate on the next matches which are “more difficult to qualify to the next round.”

“We will face more difficult teams. We must be serious because the team who want to qualify to the next round must win every match.”

Halilhodzic: we do not deserve defeat and I warned the players of Msakni

Halilhodzic said he was very disappointed by the last minute defeat. “We did not deserve defeat in this match in view of our performance but this is football. We have to accept the result.”

“Tunisia had two opportunities only while we missed many good opportunities to scoring,” he added.

He believes that the referee deprived the Algerian team of a penalty kick. He said he warned the players of Msakni who scored Tunisia victory goal.

“I warned the players of Msakni and Saber Khelifa. I told them Msakni can score goals and that what happened. I think we were naive when the goal was scored. That caused our defeat.”

There is still hope

Halilhodzic said Algeria’s chances to qualify to the next round still exist despite the defeat against Tunisia.

“There is still hope to qualify and surprises can happen in football. Now, we must forget about this match and think about the next one. Our performance today shows that we need to improve our attacking efficiency and seize opportunities.”