Skhiri gets Tunisia off to a flyer | OneFootball

Ellyes Skhiri and Farès Chaibi have got their respective Africa Cup of Nations campaigns under way in victorious fashion, with the former opening the scoring for his country.

It was the tenth minute in rainy Rabat when Tunisia won themselves a corner. The ball was floated in and Ellyes Skhiri nodded the ball home from eight years out off the inside of the post, to give his side a 1-0 lead. This was the Frankfurt midfielder’s fourth goal for his country and his first in over four years, and it helped propelled his team on the road to victory in their Africa Cup of Nations opener.

76th cap

Tunisia dominated their match against outsiders Uganda, winning 3-1 and only conceding in time added on. Skhiri, who made his 75th international appearance a few days before the tournament began in his country’s final warm-up match (a 2-1 win over Botswana), played the full 90 minutes. Tunisia’s next match comes on Saturday at 21:00 CET when they take on Nigeria, who won their Group C opener 2-1 against Tanzania. 

Chaibi’s Algeria on the board

The other Eagle in action at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, Farès Chaibi, also kicked things off with three important points. His Algeria side, under experienced coach Vladimir Petkovic (formerly in charge of the likes of Bordeaux, Lazio and the Swiss national team), defeated Sudan 3-0. Former Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez bagged a brace (2’, 61’), with Chaibi making way on the hour mark for Leverkusen’s Ibrahim Maza, who rounded off the scoring in the 85th minute.

Algeria’s next Group E assignment is on Sunday (18.30 CET kick-off) against Burkina Faso, who saw off Equatorial Guinea 2-1 in their opening match.