Tunisia’s coach insists he’s full of respect for the Socceroos but has ominously suggested he knows the “littlest details” of the Australian team — and the weakness that can be exploited.
The North African side, ranked 30th in the world, meets Australia on Saturday night (AEDT) in what looms as a pivotal Group D encounter for both nations.
Tunisia opened with an impressive draw against fancied Denmark, raising hopes the nation can reach the last 16 for the first time.
Tunisian coach Jalel Kadri continually referenced the physical strengths of the Australian side in Friday’s official pre-match press conference, but also curiously suggested he was “not surprised” by Graham Arnold’s side’s heavy loss to France.
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“In reference to the strength and weakness as I mentioned the Australian team is very respected as it participates in the Asian tournaments and I consider that it is capable of playing a high level of matches,” Kadri said.
“They have players who are able to run very rapidly who can ensure a good exploitation of opportunities and nevertheless they have some weakness that we will be able to invest in hopefully during the upcoming game
“…. These are the specificities of the Australian team. It has a high level of athletic performance nevertheless, we are convinced of our capabilities and we have players ready to face this challenge and hopefully we will do so in tomorrow’s game.”
Asked about his views on Australia’s 4-1 loss at the hands of France, Kadri suggested he was surprised by the Socceroos’ start – taking the lead through Craig Goodwin – but not how things played out afterwards
“We were surprised by the performance but we were not too surprised that France won because they are the title holder,” Kadri said.
“We know the littlest detail of the performance of the Australian team because we have analysed all of their previous matches, this is why we’re not surprised by the score, the 1-4.
“We know that they even excelled in some parts when it comes to their stamina and fitness. This is why we show the greatest respect to Australia.”
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The Socceroos are likely to face a hostile atmosphere at Al Janoub Stadium, with Tunisia one of the most well-supported nations in Qatar, with an expected 30,000 of their fans likely to be in attendance.
The Tunisians used the crowd to their advantage in their opening draw with Denmark, players frequently interacting with supporters and urging them on — and it will be a similar story against the Socceroos.
“As you can see, we are not the team with two or three big stars,” Drager told foxsports.com.au.
“We don’t have them obviously. So we have to combat this with unity with the fans. We have to take this energy.
“So yeah, every tackle, every good action, every shot on target is waking up this crowd and yeah, we need it.
“I think the Danish did underestimate this atmosphere a little bit. So it went well for us. And yeah, we try to, let’s call them the 40,000 lions in the stadium and we try to wake them up against Australia as well and to get them on our side.”
