January 23, (THEWILL) – With a 1-0 victory over Nigeria, Youssef Msakni led a COVID-affected Tunisia into the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals against a Nigeria team that finished the game with 10 men.
Tunisia survived the group stage but will be without head coach Mondher Kebaier and many players for the last-16 match on Sunday due to a coronavirus epidemic in their camp.
They did, however, clinch a place in the next round against Burkina Faso, who beat Gabon on penalties earlier in the day.
In a drab first half in Garoua, Montassar Talbi had the lone shot on target, but within two minutes of the restart, Msakni’s low drive bounced off the turf and into the top-right corner off Maduka Okoye’s hand.
After referee Maguette Ndiaye reviewed video footage of substitute Alex Iwobi’s tackle on Msakni, Nigeria was reduced to ten men in the 66th minute. Iwobi, who had only been on the pitch for seven minutes, had his booking upgraded to a straight red card.
As they sought an equaliser, the Super Eagles raised their game, but Moses Simon was unable to defeat Bechir Ben Said in the Tunisian goal. Umar Sadiq also missed the target in stoppage time completing a disappointing game for the eliminated Nigerian team.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
