Alexandria - Hany El-Awadi and Murad Teyeb: Tunisia boss Roger Lemerre voiced his happiness at his side’s 2-0 victory over South Africa and qualification to the African Cup of Nations (ACN) quarter-finals.

“Our victory was a result of hard work and effort from the players before and during the match, this result proves that we can defend our African title,” Lemerre told a press conference after the match on Thursday.

The Carthage Eagles defeated South Africa 2-0 in the African Cup Group C match that took place on Thursday thanks to efforts by Francileudo Dos Santos and Hatem Trabelsi and qualified to the quarter-finals, while the South Africans exited the tournament.

“There are no differences between a reserve player and a first-team players, all of my 23 players are essential, and fielding six new players in front of South African was for technical reasons,” Lemerre added.

The French caretaker concluded his statement by insisting that there Group C round-one final against Guinea will be for revenge, given that they were the only team who beat Tunisia in their 2006 World Cup qualifiers, and said that they will do their best to win the match, given that the players got used to Alexandria’s weather.

On the other hand, South Africa boss Ted Dumitru attributed the defeat to his players’ relative inexperience in front of Tunisia and also blamed the rain and bad weather for their exit.

“The midfielders did their job well, and our loss doesn’t mean anything. We are playing in the African Cup to prepare for our World Cup campaign, especially since most of my players are young and have little international experience,” Dumitru said.

South African have also suffered a 2-0 defeat to Guinea in their Group C opener.