Tunisia coach Georges Leekens has urged his side to go into their CAF Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final against hosts Equatorial Guinea with no fear. The Carthage Eagles won the competition as hosts in 2004, but have not gone past the quarter-finals since.
But they went through to the last eight as winners of Group B, and Leekens said: "Once you reach the quarter-finals, you want to go even further. I am a winner. The will to win has to be greater than the fear of losing."
Ahead of the game against the Nzalang Nacional in Bata, the Belgian added: "For us, this is not a quarter-final. It's the final. When you look too far ahead, you often risk crashing out of a tournament."
Equatorial Guinea have not yet lost an international match in the port city of Bata and the 35,000-capacity Estadio de Bata will be jammed with home fans desperate to see their side make history by reaching the semi-finals for the first time. "The whole of Equatorial Guinea was euphoric when they qualified for the last eight. The people were in heaven and they will want their team to keep going.
But they went through to the last eight as winners of Group B, and Leekens said: "Once you reach the quarter-finals, you want to go even further. I am a winner. The will to win has to be greater than the fear of losing."
Ahead of the game against the Nzalang Nacional in Bata, the Belgian added: "For us, this is not a quarter-final. It's the final. When you look too far ahead, you often risk crashing out of a tournament."
Equatorial Guinea have not yet lost an international match in the port city of Bata and the 35,000-capacity Estadio de Bata will be jammed with home fans desperate to see their side make history by reaching the semi-finals for the first time. "The whole of Equatorial Guinea was euphoric when they qualified for the last eight. The people were in heaven and they will want their team to keep going.
"But Tunisia also want to qualify. We are a modest team, but we also have ambitions," said the 65-year-old coach. "We have confidence in the referee and I hope everything will be fair."
Meanwhile, Leekens said his team's only injury concern, goalkeeper Farouk Ben Mustapha from Club Africain of Tunis, has made a full recovery and will be available for selection on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Leekens said his team's only injury concern, goalkeeper Farouk Ben Mustapha from Club Africain of Tunis, has made a full recovery and will be available for selection on Saturday.
By: FIFA.com
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