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North Africans Tunisia kicked off their World Cup with a brave display against a spirited Denmark
The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia put up a gallant performance to get their 2022 FIFA World Cup off to a positive start.
Tunisia held European side Denmark to an entertaining goalless affair in the first game in Group D at the Al Rayyan Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
The game between the two nations becomes the first to finish without a goal.
First half
An interesting end-to-end encounter between Denmark and Tunisia produced the second goalless first half of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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Both nations looked evenly matched in the opening 45 minutes but the Danes were the more threatening of the two teams.
But it was the North Africans who created the best chances of the game in that half through striker, Issam Jebali.
Jebali's chance
Just before the break, Tunisia had the chance to break the deadlock when striker Jebali found himself one on one with goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel.
A through ball set him through with Schmeichel at his mercy but the Tunisian forward went for a delicate chip which he watched as his intelligent effort was flicked out for a corner by the onrushing Nice man.
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The Carthage Eagles were energetic, pressed well and defended really passionately to ensure they remained in the game at the break.
Second half
The second 45 minutes started as the first, with Tunisia threatening in the opening seconds after the restart before Denmark quickly settled into the game to control proceedings on the ball.
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Tunisia had the first real chance of the game after opening up the Danes again with that man, Jebali, involved again, who threaded a brilliant ball through on goal for Laidouni.
However, like in the opening half, the Eagles of Carthage were only able to get a corner, which amounted to naught, out of the move.
Moments later, Denmark finally had their best chance of the game moments later and it resulted into a goal but it was ruled out for offside.
In the 70th minute, the Tunisian goalkeeper finally had work to do when Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen tested him from range.
The resultant corner was take by Eriksen, with Christensen hitting the ball off the post for a let off for Tunisia.
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Late drama
There was a late drama in the game when Denmark was awarded a penalty after a Tunisian player was penalised for handling the ball in the box.
But the referee's attention was called by the VAR and the decision was overturned sending Tunisian fans into a loud cheer.
In the end, there was nothing to separate both sides as they began their 2022 World Cup journeys with a share of the spoils.
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