Belgium were caught out by Japan and soon let Tunisia back
into the game in Oita.
-- GOAL -- 0-1
The Tunisian goalkeeper was all over the place as a cross came over from the right, was
chipped into the middle from the left and knocked down for Marc Wilmots
to score his second goal of the tournament -- 13 mins.
-- GOAL -- 1-1
And four minutes later Tunisia were back in the game as Raouf Bouzaiene
struck a left-foot free-kick clean over the wall and past the outstretched Geert De
Vlieger.
After a few attempts to get in front, both teams then
looked as though they were conserving energy for a final fling in the second-half. Let's
hope so.
Half-time: Tunisia 1 -- Belgium 1
Belgium made a double substitution at the start of the half --
Sven Vermant on for Gert Verheyen and Wesley Sonck for Branko Strupar -- as they tried to
look more convincing in front of goal.
But it was Tunisia who almost went in front, five minutes
after the restart, when Kais Ghodhbane's blinding volley flew narrowly wide.
More was probably expected from Belgium, after they beat
France in Paris.... but maybe that was the sign that France were falling rather than
Belgium were rising.
Player of the Match:
Kais Ghodhbane -- In a pretty dour game we're going to go out on a limb and say that Kais
Ghodhbane tried to show some creative skill.
Belgium:
1 Geert De Vlieger; 3 Glen De Boeck, 2 Eric Deflandre, 16 Daniel Van Buyten, 12 Peter Van
der Heyden; 8 Bart Goor, 6 Timmy Simons (22 Mbo Mpenza --74 mins), 18 Yves Vanderhaeghe,
11 Gert Verheyen (14 Sven Vermant -- 46 mins); 20 Branko Strupar (9 Wesley Sonck -- 46
mins), 7 Marc Wilmots.
