Tunisia And Senegal Battle To Entertaining Stalemate Tunisia 2 - 2 Senegal

Tunisia and Senegal each enjoyed bright spells in the tournament's first draw. This was a match that, while not quite as flowing or eventful as some of the others, showed that neither of these two sides is destined to be among the tournament whipping boys, and perhaps that more is to come from each of them.

Senegal started brightly, with Mamadou Niang roving confidently up front, but in fact it was the Tunisian side that was to draw first blood.

It took them just nine minutes to do so, Issam Jemaa swapping passes with Bekri before striding to the edge of the box and side-footing past Sylva.

That stunned the Senegalese, who thus surrendered the initiative to the Carthage Eagles.

Dos Santos came clsoe to receiving the ball in a dangerous area not long afterwards, but for the most part, their dominance was in the midfield, restricting Senegal mainly to long-range efforts.

Diouf and Niang tried to hit on the break, with the latter going close from the edge of the area, but in truth Tunisia were in control until five minutes before the interval.

Then, Diouf was inches away from getting on the end of a fine cross, and Tunisia began to sit back.

In doing so, Senegal were given the run of the midfield, and this gave them the equaliser right on the stroke of half time.

Jaidi was unable to get between a long ball forward and Bayal Sall, with the left-winger gratefully connecting to fire home with style. The Saint-Etienne youngster was delighted, and his side were back in the game.

Just after the restart, the Teranga Lions almost managed the lead. Kamara was put trough on goal by Diouf as the Tunisian defence dithered, but the forward could only steer his shot wide.

At the other end, Dos Santos picked up a booking for diving in the box, and then Senegal were on the rampage once more, Kasraoui having to be at his agile best to deal with Diouf.

The Senegalese were beginning to dominate, and really should have taken the lead on the hour mark, only for Mamadou Niang to somehow fire wide from six yards with the goal at his mercy.

His blushes were spared seven minutes later when Fulham's Diomansy Kamara was able to convert into an open goal after Faye's blocked shot landed at his feet: 1-2.

Henri Camara then came close to matching his namesake's feat, only for Bekri to intervene at the last minute.

That second goal, though, largely saw Senegal begin to relax, allowing Tunisia to stride forward in search of taking something from this game. Zaiem showed his substitute's energy to go close with twenty minutes to go, but it took another CAN wonder-strike to restore parity.

It came from the boot of Etoile du Sahel's Medji Traoui, who had a few seconds to tee up a long-range effort. This he did, and Sylva was left helpless as the ball hit the back of the net.

Senegal tried to hit back, but their goalward efforts were beginning to lack conviction. What's more, there were nerves and tempers flaring, particularly as Kamara picked up a booking for a late challenge. Heading into the final minutes, then, Tunisia had the chance to strike.

Jaidi almsot managed to reach a deep free-kick to surely poke home, and Sylva was foxed by Traoui's cross-cum-shot, but there were to be no more goals, and 2-2 it ended.

South Africa and Angola square off later in the next Group D match.