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Tunisia surrender meekly to Japan
Co-hosts Japan deservedly
beat a determined Tunisia to advance to the second round by winning Group
H. Japan had the majority
of chances in the match but had to wait until just after half-time to
confirm their superiority. Hiroaki Morishima scored minutes after coming
on as a substitute, while Hidetoshi Nakata assured victory with a header
a quarter of an hour from time. Tunisia are eliminated with just one point.
Tunisia were far too
cautious in a game they had to win and it was only as half-time approached
that they created anything at all of note. "It (scoring
goals) is one of the problems of Tunisian football. However, we must not
forget that we put in better performances here than in the African Nations
Cup. We also had a relatively difficult and short preparation period and
we were playing against very, very good teams here. These factors have
to be taken into account. " In truth neither team
managed the game particularly well early on. Japan moved the ball forward
but could not find a last through ball or an accurate cross to the strikers.
Tunisia were content to sit back and wait for counter-attacks, though
they lacked the precision they displayed in their 1-1 draw with Belgium.
After the first quarter
hour, Japan started to play more like a team needing only a draw, as they
also began to sit back and wait for the counter-attack. With both sides
packing men behind the ball, each team resorted to hopeful, ineffective
long balls. Atsushi Yanagisawa
was responsible for one of the few dangerous moments. He fired a shot
from the penalty arc toward the lower-right corner, but Tunisia goalkeeper
Ali Boumnijel made a nice diving save (34'). Ziad Jaziri had a look at
goal from a similar spot for Tunisia, but his shot flew wide of the right
post (38'). That would be all
either team could muster in the first half, and they went into half-time
having shown little imagination in the attack. The goal opened things
up, and Japan went close several times before Hidetoshi Nakata struck
a powerful downward header between Boumnijel's legs and into the net in
the 75th minute. Tunisia still had
fight left in them, and Ali Zitouni nearly scored twice, first when his
overhead kick went just wide of the left post (79') and then when he hit
the bar from the edge of the area (82'). But the goal would not come,
and Japan had done enough to secure their victory and wrap up the top
spot in the group. Boumnijel expressed his team's feelings after the match: "We are disappointed with the result. We hoped to draw as a minimum but it was difficult because Japan wanted to play against Turkey, and their supporters in Osaka put great pressure on us. The first goal was our defender's mistake. It was difficult to equalise because Japan put on pressure. We didn't have much time to prepare for this World Cup. But we hope we will win the next African Cup which will be organised by Tunisia in 2004." |
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In
Round 2 Ike
Shorunmu Lucas
Radebe Samuel
Eto'o In
Round 1 Metsu's
secret Profiles |
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