Cape Town - When one thinks of Tunisia versus France the name Roger Lemerre immediately comes to mind.
Lemerre was the coach who followed up France’s 1998 FIFA World Cup triumph by introducing the likes of Thierry Henry and David Trezequet to international football and leading them to victory at Euro 2000.
And it was the French coach Lemerre who guided Tunisia to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, so his is a name familiar with and revered by both these countries.
France are seeking to avoid the FIFA World Cup curse that seems to befall recent World Cup winners and are looking to mount a serious challenge to defend their world title in Qatar.
Such is the frightening talent on display in French ranks that despite losing the likes of Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba, N’golo Kante and the talented Christopher Nkunku to injury before the tournament, they still have sensational players like Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez in their ranks.
The French were far too powerful for Australia in their 4-1 opening match win, and they should also be too strong for Tunisia.
The North Africans are perennial World Cup qualifiers, but unfortunately seldom make their mark on the tournament, and that is likely to be the case again this time round.
Expect a performance of French flair and attacking intent and for them to be strong for Tunisia as they qualify for the second round and seek to break the World Cup winners curse.
Didier Deschamps’ men might not go all the way to defending their World Cup crown in Qatar, but they should be in the tournament’s knockout stages mixing it with the big guns.
It’s Mbappe’s stage as a global superstar, but veteran Giroud is providing the perfect foil as he equalled Thierry Herny’s France’s record of 51 international goals in Qatar. Expect him to nick one or two more with his clever forward play in Qatar.
Thabiso Mosia’s Prediction: Tunisia 0 France 2
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