Tunisia declare war on Zebras

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Wednesday November 17, 2010 00:00

 

The Carthage Eagles are out on a double mission - to avenge defeat after falling to the hosts 0-1 in their backyard in July and to dislodge the Zebras from pole position.

The two teams are separated only by three points and desperately need maximum points.  The Zebras have amassed 10 points from four first round qualifiers and will be hoping to stretch their winning streak.

But today's clash will be a different ball game altogether as former Inter Milan star midfielder Tijani Belaid made it clear that they mean business this time around.

Belaid, now in the books of Slavia Prague of Czech Republic, told Mmegi Sport that the Carthage Eagles are better prepared for the UB Stadium tie.

'We have prepared for this game because in July we lost to them. We do not want to lose a point this time because if that happens we will end up missing the AFCON finals. AFCON and World Cup games are very important,' he said. He was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference held at the Grand Palm Hotel yesterday morning. The press conference was only attended by Tunisian journalists and the proceedings were conducted in Arabic.

The 23-year-old linkman, Belaid, watched the first leg from the sidelines due to injury.

He, however, stressed that they are not underestimating the hosts.

'It will be a difficult match because all teams in Africa are strong. (We have seen)  big teams lose to smaller teams; so we respect Botswana. They looked like a good team (in the first leg),' he said. The France-born star will be expected to pull the strings in midfield. Despite his age, he has vast international experience after breaking into the senior team at the age of 20.

Belaid will be expected to partner Club Africain midfield grafter Wissem Ben Yahia. Yahia also believes they are ready for battle after some intensive preparations.

'We lost the first leg because we were not prepared. July was not a good time for the game,' he said through an interpreter. 

He added: 'We know Botswana (this time around), we have an idea of what they can do.'

After watching videos of the Zebras in action, Yahia warned his teammates to keep a close eye on Vasco Da Gama-bound striker Jerome Ramatlakwana. JJ, as he is affectionately known, scored the solitary goal that separated the two teams in Tunis.

'They have a very good striker, we saw the video. (But) I think we will win this one because we are well prepared,' he said. He admits their opponents have home advantage and is hoping that it will be a fair match.

The visitors will have to do without their all-time top scorer Issam Jomma who is out due to an injury. The 26-year-old RC Lens goal-getter has scored 23 goals for his country.

However, the Tunisian press officer, Mondher said the coach, Bertrand Marchand is happy with the replacements.

'Yes he (Issam Jomma) will not be part of the team but the coach is happy with the other strikers,' he said. In Jomma's absence, Marchand will be banking on his Swiss-based star striker Amine Chermite. The FC Zurich forward has been a regular goal-scorer for his club and could be a handful if not closely monitored.

The Tunisians will be buoyed by their healthy away record in the competition. They beat Chad 3-1 in N'djamena before accounting for Togo 2-1 in Lome last month.