Roger Lemerre became the first coach to win European and African titles on Saturday and then decided to celebrate quietly.
"I thank all the players. It is they who have put in the work every day," said the Frenchman after his Tunisian team had defeated Morocco 2-1 to win the African Nations Cup.
"This is also a victory for the technical staff and all Tunisians. They have made history," added Lemerre, who won the European championships with France in 2000.
After losing the 1965 and 1996 finals, Saturday represented Tunisia's first success in the continental championship.
"It's a great day. It is historic. They have done it," said the host's coach.
But instead of fielding the traditional questions from the media, an unsmiling Lemerre then returned to the dressing room refusing to comment further.
Silva dos Santos, with his fourth goal of the tournament, gave Tunisia the lead after just five minutes with a close range header in front of 60,000 people at the Rades Stadium but, seven minutes from half-time, Youssef Mokhtari pulled Morocco level to also register his fourth goal of the competition.
Ziad Jaziri then scored what proved to be Tunisia's winner in the 52nd minute after a dreadful error by Morocco goalkeeper Khalid Fouhami who spilled a sharp drive from Jose Clayton to present Jaziri with the goal.
Santos, who ended the tournament as joint top scorer with four goals, praised Lemerre for engineering a turnaround in the team's fortunes.
"He is one of the best coaches I know. His style and way of training have brought a lot to the team," said the Brazilian-born player.
"I think that because of Roger Lemerre, we will reap the fruits of all his work in the future."
Morocco coach Badou Zaki admitted his side were the authors of their own downfall.
"We committed too many errors and Tunisia exploited them to score two goals," said Zaki.
"There has to be a winner and a loser and today luck was not on our side.
"Despite that, I still congratulate the players for their efforts since our first qualfying match which was against Gabon up to today."
Zaki, whose team were probably the most attractive in the tournament and finished as top scorers with 14 goals, predicted that they will bounce back.
"We are proud to have finished second. We are a young side and need more time and encouragement to be able to do better than today.
"I congratulate Tunisia. They put in a great effort but the real winner today is Arab football."
Meanwhile, around 30,000 fans poured into Tunis city centre to celebrate their side's victory.
Many had already been at Rades while others had made the short trip from the city's second major stadium at Mensah where a huge video screen had been erected to relay the match.
"Bravo the heros. The dream has become reality. Now Tunis can sing and dance all night," said one supporter.
Even the police got involved.
"It is simply magical," said one officer as he kept a close eye on the celebrations."