Tunisia advances to FIFA Arab cup quarter-finals
Stops UAE to top group, Mauritania bows-out in style
The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia squeezed through into the quarter-finals of the 2021 FIFA Arab cup holding in Qatar.#
The North Africans beat table toppers United Arab Emirates (UAE) 1-0 in Doha to clinch top spot in Group B.
Seifeddine Jaziri sloted home on 10 minutes for his fourth tournament goal – a lead the Tunisians held unto till the final whistle.
It could have been a lot more had they taken their chances as they came.
Tunisian star Youssef Msakni said the win was vital.
“We went into today’s game fully concentrated. Unlike the Syria game, we scored an early goal and came close to netting another two, but luck wasn’t on our side. We need to turn the page quickly, however, and not over-celebrate this, because the quarter-finals will be difficult.
“I hope we can show our strength in the next round. The most important thing is that we qualified for the quarter-finals as group leaders, and that made the fans who attended the game very happy,” he added.
Pride
That left Mauritania with the task of finishing their participation in then tournament with a win.
The West Africans achieved that with a 2-1 win over Syria.
Soueid Mohamed opened scores on 50 minutes with the Syrians replying 2 minutes later.
The contest was settled with a 95th minute winner by Tanji Hemeya to leave the Syrians bottom of the group.