Jalel Kadri
* The North African giants face COSAFA representatives Namibia tomorrow
* The results in the opening rounds have shown that there is no small team in Africa
Maravi Express
Tunisia coach, Jalel Kadri says the opening matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023 have been an eye-opener — in reference to Mozambique’s impressive performance against Egypt as well as Ghana’s shock defeat to Cape Verde in their respective opening matches.
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Speaking from the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo where the 2004 champions will face Namibia in their opening Group E match tomorrow, Kadri said playing against Confederation of Southern African Football Association (COSAFA) representatives in the opening match was in no way an advantage as the tournament has already shown that there are no small teams in Africa.
“Namibia is a serious opponent, and we don’t have any easy team,” he told CAFonline. “The results in the opening rounds have shown that there is no small team in Africa as we saw, so we need to show them respect and play to our best ability. The opening matches have shown that.”
Tunisia are making their 21st appearance in the competition, with this edition being the 16th in a row — a record in the history of the tournament thus far.
Egypt’s scoring from the spot in dying minutes to level score against Mozambique
An unfavorable statistic that the coach will have to discard from his mind is the fact that Tunisia have failed to win any of their last four opening matches of the AFCON.
On his tournament objectives, Kadri was very modest in his response, saying that the team had prepared enough to go as far as possible in the competition.
“We will try to go as far as possible. We have teams that are good quality so we will try to win each match and go as far as possible. We must be respectful to all opponents.
“There are Africa’s best teams that are present so ours is to do our best in every match and take it game by game,” said the coach.
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The COSAFA is being represented by six nations — Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Tanzania.
Cape Verde and Mozambique are in Group B alongside record winners Egypt, who are hunting a record-extending eighth continental crown and renew hostilities with Ghana in a repeat of the 2010 final which the Pharaohs won late.
Zambia and Tanzania are together with Morocco and DR Congo in Group F while South Africa and Namibia are in Group E alongside Tunisia and Mali.—Info from CAFonline
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