Saransk: Tunisia registered their first win in the World Cup finals in 40 years as they defeated tournament debutants Panama 2-1 in their final Group G encounter here Thursday to end their campaign on a winning note.
Trailing 0-1 at the halftime despite having the better ball possession, Tunisia equalised through Fakhreddine Ben Yousseff just after the restart before Wahbi Khazri scored the winner to end their nation’s long drought.
“We wanted to snatch this victory, and I wanted to score, and I did. This is a great day for Tunisia,” said man of the match Ben Yousseff.
Panama took the lead after a shot by Jose Luis Rodriguez took a deflection off opposition defender Yassine Meriah in the 33rd minute for an own goal. Tunisia hit back six minutes into the second half as Ben Yousseff picked up a low cross from Khazri to slot the ball home from close range. Khazri then scored the winner in the 66th minute, running unmarked on to a low cross to tap into an open goal.
But for Tunisia coach Nabil Maaloul the Arabic nations still had a long way to go before they could seriously challenge the top sides.
“Perhaps in the second match we should have been better. Our performance against England was very good…we should have been more defensive against Belgium,” Maaloul said after the game.