Hjalmar Ekdal takes World Cup spoils over Burnley teammate as Tunisia thrashed
Hannibal stars despite Tunisia’s opening game woes
Hjalmar Ekdal’s Sweden took the World Cup spoils over his Burnley teammate Hannibal and Tunisia last night.
While Ekdal remained an unused substitute, it was the defender’s team that came out on top thanks to a heavy 5-1 victory in Mexico.
Brighton’s Yasin Ayari led the way with a brace, while Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Mattias Svanberg were also on the scoresheet in the Group F opener.
Hannibal was Tunisia’s only real bright spark, however, setting up the assist for Omar Rekik to pull one back just before half time.
The 23-year-old provided a teasing, curling cross that Rekik did well to glance past goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt, who was left rooted to the spot.
Playing in his first World Cup game, Hannibal was Tunisia’s standout performer on the night at the Monterrey Stadium.
The former Manchester United youngster created three chances, boasted a 100 per cent successful dribble rate, played 18 passes into the final third and won 10 of his 12 ground duels.
But Tunisia now face an uphill challenge to qualify for the knockout stages, with a game against Japan coming up next on Sunday.
Sweden, meanwhile, facing the Netherlands on Saturday following their 2-2 draw with the Japanese on Sunday.
Tunisia boss Sabri Lamounchi is already coming under pressure after just one game, having already overseen a 5-0 thrashing to Belgium in their World Cup warm-up on the eve of the competition.
Tunisian outlets are reporting that coach Wahbi Khazri could even take over on an interim basis until the end of the tournament.