Tunisia's Youssef Msakni: Playing Ghana Will Be Like An AFCON Final

Tunisia have landed in the quarter-finals of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations after ousting one of the tournament favourites Morocco and beating debutants Niger in Group C, but finalists of the last edition, Ghana, stand in the semi-final path of the north Africans. Esperance Tunis' 21-year-old star Youssef Msakni, who has scored two of the Eagles of Carthage�s four goals thus far, acknowledged the hurdles they will face against the Black Stars, which he described as the most formidable team in the tournament. �Don�t joke with Ghana. They are the team with the best compact play in the tournament. They are very focused and precise in front of goal. That is what makes Ghana very dangerous,� Msakni told Goal.com on Thursday. �Don�t let the Black Stars score against you first or you are dead. They know very well how to conserve their spoils. And again, they�ve got strength and stamina. It�s very hard to mark a left-footer in football and most of the Ghanaian players are left-footed. You pounce on Andre Ayew, you cause your side a fatal free kick,� he said. Playing Ghana in the quarter-finals will entail strategy and inspiration, but Msakni said it would be up to the coach to handle the situation. �I don�t know what will happen or how we�ll play against Ghana. Our coach will try to draw up something. All I can say is that playing Ghana that day will be like playing the final of the 2012 Afcon.�