MONTERREY, Mexico ¨C Tunisia will throw new coach Herve ?Renard straight into the deep end when it faces Japan on Saturday in Monterrey, with the North Africans desperately needing points after their World Cup got off to a nightmare start.
The French ?coach has barely had time to settle into his ?new ?role after being rushed in to replace ?the sacked Sabri Lamouchi, who paid the price for Tunisia¡¯s crushing 5-1 opening defeat against Sweden.
Now Renard must somehow galvanize ?his shell-shocked squad against an opponent he readily admits will be no ?pushover.
¡°I know very well the quality of this team,¡± he said. ¡°Japan are the best team in ?Asia.¡±
The four-time Asian champion lived ?up to that billing in its tournament opener, showing resilience to fight back twice ?and snatch a ?2-2 draw with the Netherlands on ?Sunday in Dallas.
Daichi Kamada¡¯s dramatic 88th-minute equalizer underscored a ?never-say-die ?attitude that could spell trouble for a fragile Tunisian defense.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu was full of praise for his team¡¯s grit and determination in battling back.
¡°We were ?trailing behind a very difficult opponent (and) the players were united as one, tenacious, they fought to the end and did not cease to persevere,¡± Moriyasu said.
Yet Moriyasu will be hoping to ?show ?more than just fighting spirit on Saturday and ?made it clear his team had been hoping for ?a win against the Netherlands.
¡°We were aiming to get three points, not one point. So in that point of view, of course it was a little bit disappointing.¡±
With ?Sweden leading Group F on three points and both Japan and the Netherlands sitting on one point each, bottom-placed Tunisia know Saturday¡¯s clash could make or break its campaign.
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