Tunisia Ducking Rising Stars?

They say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but in knockout tournaments like CAN, there is one form pristine. That is the time honored strategy of playing one’s reserves to hold back in defeat in order to avoid a more dangerous knock-out round opponent.

On the basis of the 3-0 thrashing that Tunisia are taking today one might accuse Tunisia of just this type of activity. Roger Lemerre wisely held back many of his regulars, including lethal striker Francileudo Dos Santos, in order to preserve them for next week’s knockout rounds. This strategy of course, should Lemerre consider his likely opponents in the quarters to be one of insurmountable difficulty.

While it is uncertain until tomorrow evening what the eventual ranking will be, Lemerre should have expected the Stars (who he faced in a friendly only a week or two ago) to be the runner up in group D. Had he considered the Stars a pushover, they would thus be a matchup worth jockeying to obtain. Instead he has opted towards likely Nigeria (this commenter believes Senegal is far overrated and that the SuperEagles will out tomorrow), a matchup that could fall ill on him.

Not sure that this flattery is justified, but the Stars should be proud nonetheless.