Tunisia avoided the upset and comprehensively beat Zimbabwe 4-2 today to move on to the quarterfinals of Afcon. Senegal and Algeria drew 2-2. Senegal finished top of the group and Algeria, one of the surprise teams of the 2014 World Cup, are out.
I have always had a tough time with Tunisia's success. There are few teams that Malta have a winning record against and Tunisia are one of them: 4 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats. Th last win was in 1988 and the last match between the two was a 1-1 draw in 1994. So when Tunisia qualified for the '98 World Cup I questioned the strength of African football. Watching them play England in their opening match, I couldn't help thinking that this was a team that Malta could beat.
They also qualified for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. And my feeling never went away. And again today when I see they are amongst the top 8 teams in Africa, I still think, "but Malta could beat them." The funny thing is that when I see Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana or Ivory Coast I think Malta wouldn't stand a chance against them.
Maybe Malta are just Tunisia's bogey team. Maybe the Maltese FA need to set up a friendly against them. Malta could do with a morale-boosting win right now.
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