A draw in the World Cup group stage game against England would have been “an excellent result” for Tunisia, the team’s head coach Nabil Maaloul said Monday night.
The group G encounter was held in Volgograd and ended in a 2-1 win for England.
England’s youngest ever captain at a World Cup Harry Kane, 24, scored the opener in the 11th minute, which was followed with Tunisia midfielder Ferjani Sassi equalizing with a penalty shot in the 35th minute. Kane then scored the winner in the stoppage time, securing England’s victory.
"We were playing against a highly-skilled and highly co-ordinated team in terms of their forward players. If we were to get a draw, it would have been an excellent result for us. But hopefully this will lead to higher levels of concentration in the coming games,” Maaloul told journalists.
Maaloul praised his team’s defense, stressing that Tunisia were able to play “head to head” with England.
Tunisia will face Belgium in Moscow on Saturday, while England is set to play against Panama in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday.
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