There will be a piece of unique history created when Togo and Tunisia face each other at the Mohammed V complex in Casablanca on Sunday in their WAFCON 2022 Group B opener.
When they kick off at 21h00 it will be the first time the two countries have met in the final phase of an international competition.
There are many similarities between the two teams, the biggest being their desire to do well at WAFCON.
“We are back in this competition after a 14-year absence. In 14 years, many things have changed and evolved. I had only players from the local league on the bench 14 years ago. Today, Tunisia has children, girls who evolve in Europe. They all have high-level experience,” explains veteran Tunisia coach, Samir Landolsi.
The same goes for Togo.
Togo coach Kai Tomety during the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Togo Press Conference held at the Mohammed V Complex in Casablanca, Morocco on 02 July 2022
“Is it pretentious to say that we are aiming for victory? If not, why are we here? We are confident, we have assets to showcase. As I speak to you, my daughters have only one desire: to be on the pitch and to win their first game in the very first visit of Togo to this competition,” says Togo coach and former international, Kai Tomety.
Tomety says the Togolese will enter the competition without any trepidation as “in the end we have nothing to lose.”
Tunisian captain, Ella Kaabachi, says her team will enter the competition ready both physically and mentally.
“Are we the favorites of this match? We know our strengths, but we must not underestimate Togo and think they are one of the minnows of the competition. There are no more small teams in Africa,” cautioned Kaabachi.
While acknowledging her team’s underdog status, Tomety says using a famous French proverb that “the elephant as big as it is, does not like to be titillated by a fly”.
Togo certainly will not look to be swatted away by the Tunisians on Sunday, they have finally made it to this tournament, and they’re here to fight.
Hostilities are therefore launched, but as always in all football battles: it is only the truth of what ultimately happens on the field that will count.
