Manchester United academy star Hannibal Mejbri has been talking about how much winning the Arab Cup would mean to the people of Tunisia.
The 18-year-old has been proving his ability on the international stage after playing five matches for Tunisia in their run to the final of the tournament in Qatar.
In order to reach the final, a Mejbri-inspired Tunisia have beaten Mauritania, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Syria and Egypt.
Algeria now stand in their way of achieving glory in the Arab Cup for the first time since 1963.
J’adore Hannibal Mjabri ❤️❤️
— Lena (@Lenounette) December 15, 2021
Mejbri recently missed out on featuring for the Reds when Ralf Rangnick rotated his side against Young Boys in the Champions League, but the German coach will be impressed by his efforts for Tunisia.
We hope there will be another chance for Mejbri in the first team before the season ends, but that may be a difficult task for the manager with United already out of the Carabao Cup.
“Of course, I’m really, really excited for the final against Algeria,” said Hannibal, in an exclusive interview with ManUtd.com. “After all, it’s a final. We’re going to give absolutely everything and concentrate on our game.
“It would mean so much, not just for the players but for the country as a whole,” the 18-year-old continued when asked about the significance of lifting the trophy.
“Everyone knows what it’s like in Africa and in Tunisia: we live, eat and sleep football.
“So if we were to win then it’d bring us even closer to our people, moving in the right direction together and it would give us so much strength to go on and achieve even more.”
The game against Egypt was no different for Mejbri than a youth game for United as he received an array of rough challenges from the opposition, but he was able to dust himself off and carry on.
After playing 81 minutes of the semi-final, he will fancy his chances of featuring in the big final on Saturday.
We’ll be rooting for Tunisia to beat Algeria.
