Tunisia enter the 2010 African Nations Cup in Angola nursing a massive hangover after seeing a ticket to the World Cup snatched from their grasp late last year.

The Carthage Eagles led Nigeria for five qualifying rounds only to lose in Mozambique and be overtaken by a Super Eagles team that grabbed a late Nairobi triumph over Kenya.

Pictures of weeping footballers dominated the Tunisian media as the country struggled to accept it would not be making a fourth consecutive appearance at the greatest football show of them all.

Amid a national outcry, it was inevitable that heads would roll and experienced Portuguese coach Humberto Coelho was among the first to be informed his services were no longer required.

The public wanted local Faouzi Benzarti, who guided Tunis giants Esperance, and the football federation agreed by granting him a temporary contract until the end of the African championship as the Eagles chase a second title.

Tunisia hosted and won the 2004 Nations Cup, pipping Morocco in the first all-North Africa decider, and Germany-based defender Karim Hagui will be the lone survivor from that squad in Angola.

Quarter-finals exits followed in the next two tournaments with a penalty shoot-out defeat by Nigeria in 2006 preceding an extra-time loss to Cameroon in a thriller two years later.

These were good Tunisian teams who should have gone further and many blamed the ultra-cautious tactics of Frenchman Roger Lemerre, the only coach to win Euro and Nations Cup titles.

Coelho also stands accused of lacking adventure - particularly in Maputo when a win would have taken Tunisia to South Africa - and there is confidence among supporters that Benzarti will not fall into the same trap.

Drawn with Cameroon, Gabon and Zambia in Benguela-based Group D, Benzarti knows his team face a struggle just to make the last eight of the African football showpiece.

And if the Carthage Eagles live up to media predictions and qualify with four-time champions Cameroon, title holders Egypt or Nigeria are likely quarter-finals opponents.

Anything less than a last-eight place would be another major blow for Tunisians while the semi-finals appear the realistic limit for a team full of promise but short of experienced African campaigners.