Tunisia defender admits Carthage Eagles paid price for respecting Nigeria
Tunisia defender Yan Valery has conceded that the Carthage Eagles showed Nigeria too much respect in their 3-2 defeat to the Super Eagles on Saturday, a mistake he believes proved decisive in the contest.
The loss leaves Tunisia under pressure heading into their final group match at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, while Nigeria have already secured qualification for the round of 16 after back-to-back wins.
Nigeria raced into control through goals from Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi and Ademola Lookman before Tunisia’s late response reduced the margin but failed to change the outcome.
Early caution cost Tunisia
Reflecting on the game, Valery was direct in his assessment of Tunisia’s first-half approach, admitting it allowed Nigeria to grow in confidence.
“We showed too much respect to Nigeria in the first half,” the 26-year-old said. “We needed to be more aggressive and win more duels. We let them play too much and become confident.”
Tunisia struggled to cope with Nigeria’s tempo and physicality for large spells, a deficit that proved difficult to recover from despite a stronger showing later on.
Late reaction came too late
Goals from Montassar Talbi and Ali Abdi sparked a late comeback, but Valery acknowledged that Tunisia only raised their level after the damage had already been done.
“In the second half we showed that against any team, we can play and hurt them,” he said. “But we were not aggressive enough early on, and we paid for it.”
He also dismissed any suggestion that Tunisia were outclassed individually, stressing that the issue was collective execution rather than personnel.
“It’s not about one player. We have good players who have faced top opponents before,” Valery noted.
Focus shifts to final group game
With three points from two matches, Tunisia remain in contention for qualification and will face Tanzania in their final group fixture on Tuesday.
Valery insists the team must respond immediately.
“We are frustrated about the result, but now we can only react in the next game,” he said. “We need to learn from our mistakes and show that we can do better.”
