Izuchukwu OkosiTunisia held Denmark to a scoreless draw in high-octane match at the Education City Stadium on Tuesday with both sides guilty of failing to convert some good opportunities in a thrilling Group D match.
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Tunisia generally regarded by most critics as the weakest African representative in Qatar brought the energy to the game from the start with crunching tackles and players rallying the North African country’s countless fans in Al Rayyan, Qatar.
The Eagles of Carthage, as Tunisia are known, dominated the early stages as they hassled and pressured the Danes into a series of mistakes.
However, as Denmark grew accustomed to the game’s intensity, they grew into the match with their talisman Christian Eriksen pulling the strings in midfield.
Tunisia missed a couple of gilt-edged chances either side of half-time as their fans continued to heap pressure on Danish players with whistles and boos.
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The first fell to Issam Jebali, who forced a fine save from Kasper Schmeichel. The Danish shot-stopper spread himself wide, deflecting Jebali’s delicate finish away from goal.
In the second half, Alissa Laidouni, the midfielder and Tunisia’s best player on the day, was able to break past the Danish defensive line but lacked the pace to rattle Schmeichel in a one-on-one. Laidouni eventually lost possession as he tried to square it across the goal.
After a short lull in the match, the game burst into life again in the 70th minute after the ball fell to Denmark’s Andreas Cornelius, who inexplicably headed against the post from point-blank range.
Only a minute later, Tunisia had a penalty claim waved away after the referee deemed Joachim Andersen’s hand had been naturally positioned after the ball struck it.
Tunisia began to run out of steam, and Denmark slowly began to take control of the match.
In the 94th minute, it was Denmark’s turn to have a penalty turned down after the referee was called over to the VAR screen for a suspected handball.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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