TUNISIA-SAUDI ARABIA: Players' Quotes

14 June 2006

Zied JAZIRI (TUN) Budweiser Man of the Match
It was a really tough game to play in and, at the end of the day, it was perhaps our worst match for two or three years. Saudi Arabia were clearly the better team. We lacked aggression and concentration after half-time, but I’m still satisfied with this point because everything remains possible.

Ali BOUMNIJEL (TUN)
It hasn’t sunk in yet that I just played my first World Cup match, but you have to say the result doesn’t help us. We were far too static in defence and I don’t understand why we stopped playing straight after our first goal. We need to correct our mistakes and, above all, be more aggressive.

David JEMMALI (TUN)
If you look at our first half, you might say we dropped two points. But based on the second half, we can count ourselves lucky to have grabbed a draw. We were under too much pressure and should have defended higher up the pitch to stop losing so many balls. We really lacked concentration but, without wanting to make excuses, we missed Santos a lot. I played at left-back and I haven’t done that a lot before. It’s true I didn’t really feel comfortable there, but if the coach asks me to do it again I will.

Radhi JAIDI (TUN)
I’m disappointed this evening because we could have got more out of the game. Scoring the opener made us far too confident and we foolishly let our concentration slip. The fact that we lost possession so many times in midfield goes some way to explaining the result. My equaliser was important because it means that my team can keep believing that they have a chance.

Hatem TRABELSI (TUN)
It’s a shame we stopped playing after we opened the scoring, and we played too badly to expect anything more from the game. In a match like this, missing someone like Santos hurt us a lot.

Mehdi NAFTI (TUN)
Considering how we played, it’s more a case of a point earned than two lost. I’m having trouble explaining why we played like that, but no doubt our nerves got the better of us under all the pressure. I’m very upset this evening.

Adel CHEDLI (TUN)
That’s one of the most catastrophic matches I’ve ever been involved in for Tunisia. We were so determined to win to get our campaign off to a good start, but without doubt the pressure got to us. And that’s a shame because we probably did the hard part by scoring first. We’ve only got ourselves to blame, although we’re still satisfied to have this point.

Jaouhar MNARI (TUN)
Having opened the scoring, it was up to us to secure the win, but we tried far too hard to cling on to our lead in the second half. As a result, we dropped back and gave our opponents space. It’s a really big disappointment.

Sami AL JABER (KSA) I’m not totally disheartened. Obviously, it’s not the result we were looking for, but that’s football. There were only two minutes to go, but we just couldn’t hold onto the lead. Tunisia played very well throughout the match. I’m proud about scoring with my first touch of the ball. We battled away, and we’ll keep on battling against Spain and Ukraine. We know we have to work harder.

Nawaf AL TEMYAT (KSA) I picked up an injury in the first half, and the coach asked me if I was OK to keep going, but unfortunately I had to go off. Tunisia were the better team, but after we went 2-1 in front we concentrated on defending. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough.

Yasser AL KAHTANI (KSA): We’ve won a point today, but we’ve dropped two points as well.