Tunisia captain Wahbi Khazri has branded their style of play against Ghana in Monday’s Round 16 tie at the Africa Cup of Nations as ‘men’s football’.
Tunisia broke the deadlock five minutes after Khazri came on as a substitute for Anice Badri, and even though the Black Stars got a late equaliser and dragged the game into a penalty shootout, it was the Carthage Eagles who emerged victorious.
While Tunisia have pulled through to the Afcon quarterfinals for the first time since 2004, coach Alan Giresse’s men have been heavily criticised, especially for their sloppy display in the Group Phase, where they played out three draws.
“It was fantastic. We played men's football. We shut the mouths of critics,” Khazri told Goal.
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“People have been criticising us. Like I said before people seem to easily forget.
“You can't throw away all the good things we have done because of two poor games we played."
Still reflecting on the Ghana game, Khazri hailed the fighting spirit and resilience of his teammates against a highly-rated team like Ghana.
“Tonight [Monday] against a great Ghanaian team with top players, we showed our fighting spirit and proved that Tunisia is one of the African teams to be reckoned with," Khazri continued.
“We are not discouraged by the criticisms. We get motivated by them because we want to prove people wrong.
“The whole team proved that we are men and that we can face any team. We have to continue on this level.”
