Previous Encounters:
Spain and Tunisia had never met before the Germany 2006 World Cup Finals.
The Match:
Spain started with a succession of short passes around their own half, to let the team get
a feel for the ball.
Before the Spaniards could get into their rhythm, Radhi Jaidi slipped
in behind Carles Puyol and although three defenders tried to crowd him out of space, he
slipped the ball into the path of Jaouhar Mnari's. When Casillas failed to hold the shot,
the FC Nürnberg midfielder followed up to slam the ball into the back of the net.
Despite all their running the final ball just wasn't working for
Spain, who were expecting to qualify from the group this evening.
Half-time: (0:1).
Spain came out for the second half looking to get back on level terms
as soon as possible; substitute Francesc Fabregas almost doing it with a stunning shot
that Boumnijel managed to turn away.
Substitutions were made early by both teams; Spain with no more
substitutes available if anything goes wrong in the last 30 minutes.
Typical of Spain's play, Torres had what looked like a good chance to
break through on goal, until he tried to beat the same play three times; pretty play but
far from effective.
Radhi Jaidi continued to do a good job stopping Spain's raids, until
he earned himself a yellow card.
The next attack by Spain resulted in the goal they needed, as Raul was
on hand to tap in after Boumnijel palmed the first shot away; into the path of the
perennial predator.
Three minutes later, Boumnijel redeemed himself by blocking a Fabregas
shot with his foot.
Amazingly, Boumnijel was then caught on the edge of his area as
Fernando Torres ran onto a visionary through ball from Fabregas and rounded the Tunisian
keeper to angle a shot into the goal before the Tunisian defenders could cut it out.
Spain made the scoreline look more respectable with an injury time
penalty, that Torres slotted under the goalkeeper.
Final Score:
Spain 3 - Tunisia 1
Goalscorers:
0:1 Jaouhar Mnari (8)
1:1 Gonzalez Raul (71)
2:1 Fernando Torres (76)
3:1 Fernando Torres (90pen)
Substitutions:
46 Mins (Spain) - 7 Gonzalez Raul on for 11 Sanz Luis Garcia
46 Mins (Spain) - 18 Francesc Fabregas on for 16 Marcos Senna
56 Mins (Spain) - 17 Sanchez Joaquin on for 21 David Villa
57 Mins (Tunisia) - 10 Kaies Ghodhbane on for 13 Riadh Bouazizi
57 Mins (Tunisia) - 4 Alaeddine Yahia on for 19 Anis Ayari
79 Mins (Tunisia) - 7 Haykel Gmamdia on for 14 Adel Chedli
8 Yellow
Cards:
30 Mins - Carles Puyol (Spain)
32 Mins - Anis Ayari (Tunisia)
40 Mins - Hatem Trabelsi (Tunisia)
70 Mins - Radhi Jaidi (Tunisia)
80 Mins - Haykel Gmamdia (Tunisia)
85 Mins - Zied Jaziri (Tunisia)
90 Mins - Francesc Fabregas (Spain)
92 Mins - Jaouhar Mnari (Tunisia)
