Alain Giresse, the Tunisia head coach, has revealed the difficulty he is facing in trying to motivate his players for their third place playoffs against the Super Eagles.
Tunisia lost to the Teranga Lions of Senegal in the semifinal of the AFCON 2019 in agonizing fashion and have found it hard lifting their heads afterwards.
The former Mali coach revealed his team’s disappointment while addressing reporters at the All Salam Stadium.
“Our target was more than just reaching the semifinal. But now we focus on the game against Nigeria and hope to win third place.”
Tunisia’s Ferjani Sassi missed a penalty in regulation time before Dylan Bronn conceded an own goal in the first few minutes of extra time to end the Carthage Eagles’ hopes of advancing to the final and winning a second continental title.
“I believe this is going to be a psychologically tough encounter because we are not over that defeat by Senegal yet.
“I cannot say all our players are fit after playing two extra-times, but we will do our best.
“This is football and we understand the whole team’s disappointment. But we have to forget that and focus on the Nigeria game.”
The third place playoffs between Nigeria and Tunisia is billed for Wednesday evening.