There is no question Tunisia could never have become the strong side they are now without the direction of coach Roger Lemerre.

Tunisia, who have emerged as one of the most dangerous African sides in recent years, definitely owe their success to the former France coach since he replaced Henri Michel in August 2002.

"Finding a good coach at the time was for me the most important thing," recalled Tunisia federation president Hammouda Ben Ammar.

"We contacted six coaches - but it was Roger Lemerre who grabbed my attention.

"When I met him for the first time I was hit by his conviction. He is a man passionate about his job."

Lemerre, 61 when he was appointed, was a World Cup winner as Aime Jacquet's assistant for France in 1998.

He also led the French team to their Euro 2000 and 2001 Confederations Cup successes before a disappointing performance at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea where Les Bleus went out in the first round without winning a match or even scoring a goal.

Lemerre was sacked, replaced by Jacques Santini and moved to Tunisia where he set about catapulting the Carthage Eagles to the top of African football.

The Frenchman, who rates himself as an intellectual and hates media attention, began by persuading gifted Brazil-born striker Francileudo dos Santos to take Tunisian nationality.

Santos, who had played with Etoile du Sahel in Sousse between 1998 and 2000, was at the time playing for Sochaux in the French Ligue 1 and was still hoping one day to play for Brazil.

Three months after Dos Santos became Tunisian, the team won the African Nations Cup by defeating Morocco 2-1 in front their 60,000 home fans at Stade de Rades.

Santos was the tournament's top scorer, with four goals.

"Santos is an exceptional player," said Lemerre.

"He has brought a lot of depth to the team's game. Dos Santos is an ideal team-mate, because he brings his professionalism. It's good to have him with us. He opted for the Tunisian nationality as a free man and simply because he loves football."

Tunisia's strength also lies in Lemerre's ability to rely on key players while also bringing fresh blood into the national side.

Ziad Jaziri, Dos Santos, Adel Chadli and captain Hatem Trabelsi have been key elements of Lemerre's talented outfit in recent years.

The French boss also gave important roles to younger players such as defenders Anis Ayari and Karim Hagui, midfielders Selim Benachour and Medhi Nafti and strikers Haikel Gmamdia, Issam Jomaa and Hamed Namouchi.

The clever mixture between youth and experience proved irresistible in Tunisia's qualifying campaign.

The Carthage Eagles lived up to expectations as they finished top of Group 5 - above Morocco, Guinea, Kenya, Botswana and Malawi.

Lemerre's men lost only once - 2-0 against Guinea in June 2005 - but won six matches and drew three times, including their last decisive clash with arch-rivals Morocco last Autumn.

"Football is no exact science. Our qualification is the result of our hard work," said the coach.

Tunisia are the only African side to have booked their ticket to a World Cup final phase for the third consecutive time.

"There are a few reasons for that," said Lemerre.

"Firstly we have tremendous resources in terms of players - even if most of them are now playing abroad. A huge amount of work has been done too in the past 12 years on training and structures in Tunisia.

"The level of young players is good, and the country is very united.

"We played in Germany at the Confederations Cup. We lost both our matches to Germany and Argentina - but I do believe we can say we lost with elegance."

Lemerre is hoping for more than that this summer - because he thinks it is time an African team put their names on the World Cup roll of honour.

"The whole world is expecting a result from an African team," he said.

"African players have been inundating Europe with their talent for years, so why not win a World Cup? They are all great players.

"African football is another football. The reason why an African side have not yet won a major competition like the World Cup is not because they lack seriousness or strictness.

"But the culture is different. Hard work is important, but creativity makes the difference. Between structure and creativity, I choose creativity."

In June in Germany Tunisia will play in Group H along with Spain, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia - and Lemerre is confident they can finish in the top two and qualify for the last 16.

"Spain are a great football nation. Ukraine are too," he conceded.

"We will be the minnows, the outsiders of the group with Saudi Arabia, but we will defend our chances the best we can because we do have the qualities required.

"After my experiences at the 1998 WC, the Euro and the Confederations Cup this is not unknown territory for me.

"Tunisia have already reached a final phase of the World Cup, and we will definitely go there to give our all."