Tunisia, on Sunday, eliminated one of the main candidates for winning the African Cup of Nations, Nigeria, with a 1-0 victory, qualifying for the quarter-finals, where it will face Burkina Faso. The goal of qualifying Tunisia at the beginning of the second half, in the 47th minute, was scored by midfielder Youssef Al-Maskani, who plays for Al-Arabi, who is currently ranked sixth in the first Spanish league in Qatar.
Tunisia’s qualification against Nigeria is surprising, considering that the North African team qualified for the eighth place as one of the best third-placed teams, in a group in which it achieved only one victory, at the expense of the fragile Mauritania team. And two defeats against Gambia and Mali, both 1-0.
On the other hand, Nigeria qualified in Group D, adding nine points as a result of three victories, one over one of the title candidates, Egypt, coached by Carlos Queiroz, and two more points against Sudan and Guinea Bissau.
For the Nigerian national team, Porto Zedo played for 90 minutes, and his early return to Porto is sure to be good news for Porto coach Sergio Conceicao.
It should also be noted that Nigeria were reduced to 10 units after the 66th minute, when Everton striker Alex Iwobi was sent off with a straight red card.
Tunisia will now face in the African Cup of Nations quarter-finals the Burkina Faso team, who today eliminated Gabon, in the last round of penalty kicks, after a 1-1 draw at the end of the regulation and overtime.
