Tunisia target good start
13 Jun 2006 - 12:36:19
Tunisia get their World Cup finals campaign underway with a must-win clash against Saudi Arabia in Munich on Wednesday.
The pair face a tough task to progress to the last 16 after being drawn alongside Spain and Ukraine in Group H and the loser in Munich could be forgiven for thinking their tournament is as good as over.
Roger Lemerre's Tunisia booked their place in Germany by topping a qualifying group that contained Morocco, Guinea, Kenya, Botswana and Malawi.
It is the fourth time the Carthage Eagles have reached the finals, but they have previously managed just one victory in nine games - against Mexico in 1978.
Reaching the knockout stages would represent a major achievement for Lemerre's men, but they will begin their effort to do so without star striker Francileudo Santos.
The Brazilian-born star, who has scored 18 times in 28 internationals since pledging his allegiance to Tunisia, will not recover from a shin injury in time to face Saudi Arabia, but should be ready to play in the remaining group matches.
Santos is likely to be joined on the sidelines by Alaeddine Yahia and Mehdi Meriah, who are both struggling with muscle strains.
Saudi Arabia are appearing in their fourth consecutive finals and looking to make the knockout stages for the second time, having won 10 and drawn two of their qualifying games.
They marked their World Cup debut in 1994 by beating Belgium and Morocco in the group stage, before losing 3-1 to eventual semi-finalists Sweden in the last 16.
However, they failed to win a match in 1998 or 2002 and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation are desperate for Marcos Paqueta's squad to produce a better return on their substantial financial investment in the game this time round.
Unfortunately for Paqueta, the money on offer in the domestic game is so good that Saudi players see little incentive to test themselves in the world's strongest leagues and only one member of the Sons of the Desert squad has played abroad.
The Brazilian coach is concerned about the lack of top-level club experience in his squad and, while it may not prove to be a factor against Tunisia, it will certainly not help them against the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Fernando Torres later in the group stage.