Spain v Tunisia - Preview

Tunisia aiming to derail Spanish juggernaut

French-born coach Roger Lemerre has said that Tunisia have both the physical strength and tactical savvy to derail high-flying Spain in their World Cup Group H clash here Monday.

While the Spanish have emerged as major title contenders following their 4-0 defeat of Ukraine, a question mark hangs over Tunisia's second round survival chances after their late salvaging of a 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia.

It took a late headed equaliser from Bolton defender Rahdi Jaidi to keep Tunisia's campaign alive, and the post-match feeling from the Saudis was they had been robbed of two points.

Despite having to overcome both a psychological and physical handicap, Lemerre feels Tunisia can use a combination of power and style to defeat Luis Aragones' Primera Liga-packed group favourites.

"It will be a battle of two different styles of game," said the Frenchman, who after the ignominy of steering France out of the World Cup first round in 2002 without a win or a goal rekindled his career two yeals later by leading Tunisia to the African crown.

"Our players are just as good and maybe have the edge (on Spain) when it comes to physical power," Lemerre added.

"Our number one priority is motivation. We have to be prepared to push for this together. The expectations are big, so we need nothing less than 100 percent from everybody."

The Africans haven't won a World Cup game since they beat Mexico 3-1 on their tournament debut in 1978.

And to complicate matters, top Brazilian-born striker Francileudo dos Santos is still sidelined with a persistent shin injury and only has a 50-50 chance of playing in their final group group match, against Ukraine.

In their bid to defy Spain, salvation might instead come from their saviour against the Saudis. Bolton defender Jaidi said they have learned from their disastrous opening match.

"We all know that we didn't play well, but if we manage to concentrate better against Spain we will play better," he said.

"Maybe we can even cause an upset."

Spain should be brimming with confidence after notching up their 23rd match unbeaten against Ukraine, although the nightmare scenario of yet another exit at the quarter-final stage is omnipresent and Aragones seems to have insisted on his players favouring a step by step approach.

Spanish forward David Villa (C) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal during the World Cup 2006 group H football match Spain vs Ukraine, 14 June 2006 at Leipzig stadium. AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSEN

If Spain get past a second round match-up with either France, Switzerland, South Korea or Togo, they could then face Brazil, Croatia, Italy or Ghana in the quarter-final.

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, whose performances for Spain have managed to keep club mate Michel Salgado on the sidelines, feels it's still too early to be making predictions.

"Spain has always had great teams with quality players, but we haven't had the luck to go with it," he said Saturday.

"We can go a long way in the World Cup, but first we have to have the maximum respect for the other teams in the group.

"We have two tough games coming up. The most important thing is to keep our feet on the ground."

Teams

Spain

Iker Casillas (capt), Segio Ramos, Pablo Ibanez, Carles Puyol, Mariano Pernia, Marcos Senna, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernandez, Luis Garcia, David Villa, Fernando Torres: Coach: Luis Aragones

Tunisia

Ali Boumnijel, Hatem Trabelsi, Radhi Jaidi, Karim Haggui, Anis Ayari, Jawer Mnari, Riadh Bouazizi (capt), Adel Chedli, Hamed Namouchi, Mehdi Nafti, Ziad Jaziri: Coach: Roger Lemerre (FRA)

Referee

Carlos Simon (BRA)