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    Friday, June 29, 2018

    Tunisia get first World Cup win in 40 years with victory over Panama


    Tunisia's Wahbi Khazri set up the first goal and scored the second to give the country its first World Cup win in 40 years with a 2-1 victory over debutants Panama in their final Group G match on Thursday.
    Fakhreddine Ben Youssef turned in Khazri's perfect cross in the 51st minute to cancel out a first-half own goal by defender Yassine Meriah.
    Tunisia dominated possession and took the lead after 66 minutes when Khazri finished of a sleek passing move with a tap-in.
    Both teams have already been eliminated, with Belgium and England qualifying from the group.
    The result brought some vindication for Tunisia, who coach Nabil Maaloul had admitted before the game were demoralised after their defeats by England and Belgium.
    "We wanted to snatch this victory, and I wanted to score, and I did. This is a great day for Tunisia," said man of the match Ben Yousseff.
    "We know it is the first time for the Panamanian side but it doesn't mean it was easy to defeat them."
    Tunisia, playing fluent and composed football, had much the better of the first half.
    But they trailed 1-0 at halftime against the run of play after a shot by Panama's Jose Luis Rodriguez took a deflection off Tunisian defender Yassine Meriah in the 33rd minute for an own goal.
    Tunisia took six minutes to assert themselves after the restart. Ben Yousseff picked up a neat low cross from Khazri to slot the ball home from close range.
    Khazri, who had always looked dangerous, then obliged in the 66th minute, running unmarked on to a low cross from defender Oussama Haddadi to tap into an open goal.
    Panama were making their World Cup debut and will go home disappointed, having declared their dream of making history by taking at least a point.
    "Perhaps in the second match we should have been better. Our performance against England was very good...we should have been more defensive against Belgium," Tunisia coach Nabil Maaloul said.
    "When we landed in this group we knew our best hope will be to come third."
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