South Africa crash out to holders in African Cup

Defending champions Tunisia booked their place in the knockout stage of the African Cup of Nations with a comfortable 2-0 win…

Defending champions Tunisia booked their place in the knockout stage of the African Cup of Nations with a comfortable 2-0 win over South Africa in Alexandria.

Roger Lemerre's side will now face Guinea on Monday to decide who goes through as group winners thanks to goals from Francileudo dos Santos and Slim Benachour.

Tunisia had a goal disallowed for offside after only 10 minutes as the lively Santos stole in at the far post only to be denied by a linesman's flag.

Santos finally opened the scoring against the run of play in the 32nd minute when his low shot from the edge of the area skipped off the wet surface and beat Calvin Marlin.

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The goal sent Brazilian-born Santos joint top of the scoring charts with Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o on four goals, following his hat-trick against Zambia in the opener.

Tunisia ensured their passage into the next round when Benachour fired high past Marlin from inside the area following an excellent pull back from Hatem Trabelsi just before the hour.

The win sends South Africa crashing out of the competition without even scoring a goal. Before the tournament, Ted Dumitru was appointed manager on a caretaker basis and has already been told he will not be appointed permanently.

Former Ireland manager Brian Kerr and current Australia manager Guus Hiddink are under consideration for the job.