Draws that suit two teams only to leave one behind are something that is quite recurrent in international competitions. In 1982, Algeria paid the price against Germany and Austria and was unable to get out of the group stage of the World Cup. In 2004, we had a similar case at the Euro where Denmark and Sweden offered a prolific draw (2-2) in order to eliminate Italy from the competition. During the 2025 Arab Cup, the scenario was not profitable for Tunisia. The Eagles of Carthage can obviously blame themselves for a bad start to the tournament.
Beaten from the start by Syria (1-0) before snatching a draw against Palestine (2-2), Tunisia only had one point after two matches like Qatar against 4 for Syria and Palestine. And while the Tunisians crushed Qatar with ease this Sunday (3-0), the other match in the group resulted in a very sad outcome (0-0). Finally sad, especially in terms of content. Five shots on each side, only one shot on target for Syria and three for Palestine, a rather dull scenario, the football was not really there. The emotions especially took place after the match since this result allowed both teams to qualify for the quarter-finals.
A contested draw
After the final whistle, the two selections celebrated together this historic qualification for both countries. A moment of intense joy for two selections strongly affected by the war and who were able to enjoy a nice moment of football, a year and a half after having respectively reached the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup. However, this rather accommodating story for Palestine and Syria left Tunisia in the lurch. Especially since certain behaviors have questioned. Syrian captain Omar Khribin notably asked his teammates not to press their opponents during injury time while Palestine was passing in their own half.
Numerous cuts also took place during the match causing loss of time. Many Tunisian consultants have pointed to a possible arrangement. Tunisian analyst, Ammar Al-Jamal notably exposed the pin in a program on the channel Al Kass with Fahd Al-Atal a former Palestinian striker and Ahmed Azzam a former Syrian striker: “it’s true we didn’t put our destiny in our hands, but today we talk about today, we observe from the 88th minute that both teams pass to 10 as they attacked from start to finish against Tunisia and Qatar. Silence in the face of injustice is a form of complicity.” He also referred to the Germany – Austria match in Gijon 1982 which cost Algeria dearly.
A heated debate which almost ended with insults. The Tunisian coach Sami Trabelsi had a more nuanced speech and regrets more the start of the competition of his team: “we were unable to capitalize on our chances in the first match against Syria, nor in the second against Palestine. We should have scored more goals to seal the fate of the match. Against Qatar, we showed a different face, but it was too late: our destiny no longer depended on us.» While the African Cup of Nations begins in two weeks, Tunisia is having a pretty bad time after this elimination in a contentious context. Palestine and Syria are enjoying their side while waiting for the quarter-finals.
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– UPDATE
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