Nabil Maaloul…We’re very much determined

Tunisia continued with their preparation on Tuesday under new coach Nabil Maaloul (in photo) as they prepared for Saturday’s World Cup Qualifier against Sierra Leone.

Nabil a former player himself played with the Tunisian team that participated in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, has said they are more than determined, and very much optimistic but warned his side needs to be mentally focused until the last minute.

The former Esperance manager Maaloul takes over from Sami Trabelsi, who resigned following the side’s early exit from the African Nations Cup in January.

“The game against Sierra Leone gives us a real chance to consolidate our lead if we can win away from home and stay top of Group B, it’s important not to lose, and the way we play will played a part in determine the result, we must be focus until the last minute”.

Tunisia, who has reached the World Cup finals on four occasions, became the first African nation to win games at the finals in Argentina in 1978 when they beat Mexico 3-1 in their opening match.

The current Tunisia team reached the African Cup of Nations finals in January thanks to the away-goals rule against their forthcoming opponents.

A 2-2 victory away to Sierra Leone meant Tunisia qualified for the finals with a subsequent 0-0 draw at home.

Meanwhile, Sierra Leone assistance coach Tom Harris believes there are lots of areas to exploit against Tunisia when the two sides meet on Saturday at the Freetown National Stadium. Tom made this statement just after Leone Stars training session on Wednesday afternoon.

“There are new facing in the team for a reason, we going to make used of areas we think we can exploits, come Saturday victory in our main focal point.  Harris said.

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