RUSTENBURG — Youssef Msakni struck in the final minute to hand Tunisia a 1-0 win in an Afcon football match over Algeria in a scrappy Maghreb derby on Tuesday.
Msakni, a recent $15 million signing for Qatar club Lakhouya, lived up to his “Little Mozart” nickname with a superb strike to settle a game that had otherwise failed miserably to justify its billing as one of the headline ties of the opening round.
“You have to be really patient in a match like that as they are often decided at the last minute,” said Tunisia coach Sami Trabelsi.
“Unfortunately, when Issam Jemaa came off early on it left us missing something up front. Bravo to Algeria also — they played a good match.
“Sometimes there is no logic in football and a match can change any time, but we always believed we could win.”
Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic said: “The result was an enormous disappointment for my players — we deserved to get something out of the game.
“I can’t criticise any of my players tonight and the goal came at the end. It’s cruel, but that’s football.
“My team largely dominated, but I told them Msakni could cause trouble with his right foot and we were a little naive at the moment that decided the game.”
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The North African neighbours, both former champions, were meeting for the first time in the 56-year Africa Cup of Nations.
And Maghreb upped sticks for the night to the other end of the continent, with at least 1 000 Algerian and several hundred Tunisian fans who made the long trip south.
Despite the 42 000 capacity Royal Bafokeng Stadium being only a quarter full, the atmosphere was charged.
Tunisia suffered an early blow when Kuwait-based striker Issam Jemaa had to come off with a left thigh injury after earlier clashing with Essaid Belkalem. Hamdi Harbaoui took his place.
