Tunisia qualifed to the African Cup of Nations (ACN) quarter-finals after defeating South Africa 2-0 in their Group C match that took place in Alexandria on Thursday. Francileudo Dos Santos broke the dead lock with a goal in the 32nd minute for Tunisia before Selim Benachour secured his side's victory two minutes from the hour mark. With this result, Tunisia tops the Group C standings with six points, ahead of second-place Guinea on goal difference, who also qualified to the quarter-finals, while both South African and Zambia exited the African Cup. The Carthage Eagles hit on the aggressive note from the start of the match and tried to secure their passage with an early goal before the match referee disallowed a Dos Santos goal in the 10th minute after committing an offside offense.
South Africa squandered a couple of chances to open their score when Benedict McCarthy fired a throbbing shot pass goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel's net in the 19th minutes and when he shot a Sibusiso Zuma cross into the Tunisian post. Dos Santos opened the score for Tunisia after intercepting a McCarthy cross and firing into the South African net in the 32nd minute. The Eagles continued to dominate through the second-half, paving the way for Benachour to book his side's place in the African Cup quarter-finals when he finished a Hatem Trabelsi cross in the 58th minute. Bafana Bafana tried to save face in the second-half but were confronted by a solid Tunisian defense. Tunisia will next play against Guinea in their round-one Group C final that will take place on Monday.
