Sheffield Wednesday ace Yan Valery suffers World Cup exit as Tunisia are brushed aside
Yan Valery’s debut World Cup campaign has not gone according to plan.
Sheffield Wednesday defender Yan Valery's World Cup adventure came to a premature end on Saturday evening (Sunday morning in the UK) after Tunisia were beaten 4-0 by Japan in Monterrey.
Following a 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their Group F opener last Monday, the Eagles of Carthage needed to avoid defeat to keep their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages alive.
Despite overseeing a change in head coach in the last few days, dismissing Sabri Lamouchi and replacing him with Hervé Renard, the African outfit were overpowered by Japan, who got the job done via goals from Ayase Ueda (2), Daichi Kamada and Junya Ito either side of half-time.
Kamada opened the scoring with just four minutes on the clock, turning the ball home from close range, before Ueda claimed his first goal of the game just past the half hour mark when he fired home a brilliant effort from the edge of the penalty area.
Ito, with just over 20 minutes to go, put the contest beyond doubt, slotting home a composed effort after being sent scampering clear by Ueda, who scored his second and Japan's fourth with less than ten minutes of normal time remaining, heading home a cross from Kaishū Sano.
Defeat means Tunisia's hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the very first time are officially over with one game still to play.
Having conceded nine goals in their opening two matches, Tunisia have leaked more goals than any other team at the tournament thus far. They lacked control and intensity against Japan, registering just two shots.
Valery, who is widely expected to leave Hillsborough in this summer's transfer window, was included in the starting XI for the second game running and completed the full 90 minutes. He started at right wing-back amid Renard's decision to start with a back-three.
Valery had 43 touches of the ball, completed 77 per cent of his attempted passes, won three of his five ground duels, made two interceptions, completed two clearances and made seven defensive contributions in total.
Tunisia will conclude their World Cup campaign at 12am BST on Friday, facing the Netherlands, who have amassed four points from their opening two matches, at the Kansas City Stadium.