Former France coach Roger Lemerre confronts the ghosts of the worst nightmare of his career here Saturday when he leads Tunisia into battle against Senegal for a place in the semi-finals of the African Nations Cup.
Two years ago, Senegal defeated Lemerre's world champions France 1-0 in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup and the result sent shockwaves throughout football.
France went on to be eliminated from the World Cup, Senegal marched all the way to the quarter-finals and Lemerre was promptly sacked.
"The Senegalese had nothing to lose that day. It was a great challenge for them," said Lemerre as he reflected on the May 31, 2002, defeat in Seoul.
"But it wasn't defeat against Senegal that eliminated France, it was the possibility of it happening to us again."
There will be some familiar faces lined up against Lemerre and the hosts at the 60,000-capacity Rades stadium on Saturday including El Hadji Diouf and Pape Bouba Diop, the creator and scorer of that famous World Cup goal.
Liverpool star Diouf, like most of his teammates, has yet to really shine at this tournament but Senegal coach Guy Stephan, ironically Lemerre's assistant at the World Cup, believes Saturday could be the perfect platform for the former African Footballer of the Year.
"El Hadji Diouf is a great player who needs a big stage like the match against Tunisia to show what he can do on a football field," said Stephan.
In the last group match, which ended in a 1-1 draw with Mali, there were indications in the second half that Diouf was finding his range, tormenting Mali on the right flank and even hitting the post in the dying moments.
Despite the hype behind the match, Stephan is keen to play down the history.
"This will be a match between Senegal and Tunisia, it is not a match between Roger Lemerre and Guy Stephan and I will find it a great pleasure to see him," said Stephan.
"Roger taught me a great deal."
Stephan took over the reins at Senegal after World Cup hero Bruno Metsu decamped to the Middle East but he insists that Saturday's match will have nothing in common with that famous night in Seoul.
Stephan said his team's lacklustre form here could be partly due to the absence of influential and stylish Inter Milan midfielder Khalilou Fadiga, who hasn't played since last summer because of a heart condition.
Ferdinand Coly believes the problem is that Senegal, runners-up to Cameroon at the last Nations Cup in Mali in 2002, have become victims of their own success after their World Cup adventure.
"Nothing has changed with the team," said the Perugia defender.
"Since our brilliant performance at the 2002 World Cup and since making the final of the last Cup of Nations in the same year, all of our opponents are super-motivated and they prepare down to the smallest detail to face Senegal.
"We have become the team to beat."