Tunisia star Hannibal Mejbri has revealed how his inside knowledge of Manchester United teammate Christian Eriksen helped his side to a point against Denmark.
The United youngster came off the bench in his country’s 0-0 draw with the Danes on Tuesday, and Hannibal reckons his advice to his teammates played a part.
He said: “I trained with Eriksen every day at Manchester United. I know he’s a very good player. So, I told the boys in our midfield that he was a very good player and not to give him any space. I also told them to be careful with our challenges because he’s very clever, skilful.
“I don’t think we gave him any, I think it worked. I talked to him on the field. Do you want to know what I said? Ah, that would be telling. It’s a conversation to stay between me and him.”
Hannibal believes Tunisia were good value for their point, adding: “The Tunisian mentality is that we are aggressive – but we are also good players. I wasn’t surprised at all by the result. We’re good defensively and every team we play against knows that.”
Denmark Kasper Hjulmand admits qualification has “become complicated” for his side after the draw.
“We played too nervously and too slow, and we didn’t find ourselves in the first half,” Hjulmand said. “There was a period when we got into it but we were never calm and comfortable, that came later in the game. There’s no doubt we played under par.
“It (qualifying from the group) has become complicated but it’s not over. We are underway with the tournament, but our heads would have been a little higher with a better result.”
READ MORE: Goals are great, but have you ever seen Tunisia draw 0-0 with Denmark?
Tunisia boss Jalel Kadri hailed the fans’ impact on the game.
“The fan factor was very positive for us,” he said. “It mentally gave us a great lift and we are looking forward to seeing the fans continue to do that for us.
“It really helped us in the game, but tactically and physically we did well too.”
