Equatorial Guinea, Congo ignite Africa

The attention of football fans all over the world will shift to Africa for the next three weeks, starting from this afternoon, as the 30th edition of the continent’s greatest showpiece -the Africa Cup of Nations- gets underway in the tiny oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.

Host, Equatorial Guinea and Congo Brazzaville will set the tune in the open­ing match billed to kick off at 6pm this evening inside the main bowl of the 15, 250 capacity Nuevo Stadium in Ma­labo, as 16 national teams, battle for the coveted trophy won by Nigeria’s Super Eagles at the last edition of the tourna­ment in South Africa two years ago.
Interestingly, Equatorial Guinea will be making its second appearance at the Nations Cup finals with its first and only outing being in 2012 when it co-hosted with Gabon and reached the quarterfinals.
But not much is expected from the Nzalang Nacional (National Thunder), nickname for Equatorial Guinea’s na­tional team, at this edition of the tourna­ment, having been earlier disqualified for fielding ineligible player during the qualifiers.
The Central African nation got the chance to play at this year’s finals as last minute substitute for Morocco that with­drew as host following the refusal of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to grant its request to shift the date of the championship over fears that the travel­ling fans could spread the dreaded Ebola virus that has claimed well over 5,000 lives in the West African sub region.
Another pointer that Equatorial Guinea, ranked 120 in FIFA World ranking, may not go far in the tournament is the ap­pointment of Argentine coach, Esteban Becker, barely two weeks ago to tinker its 2015 Nations Cup squad of average players. The biggest name in the squad is Captain Emilo Nsue who plies his trade with English Championship side, Mid­dlesbrough. With only two international caps, Nsue will rely on the experience of the defensive quartet of Sipo of AEK of Cyprus, Rui of Hibermans FC of Malta, Daniel Evuy and Diosdado Mbele, both of domestic side, Leones Vegetarians FC, to shut-out the Congo Red Devils’ ram­paging attack in today’s opening match.
Perhaps, the biggest work for the host side today would be in the midfield where veterans Juvena Edjogo-Owono and Randy are expected to bring their wealth of experience to bear against the Congolese. Edjogo-Owono, 35, is the most capped Equatorial Guinea interna­tional with 24 caps and six goals while Randy, 27, has 19 caps and three goals under his belt.
Whether the National Thunder would have enough fire-power to strike down the Claude Le Roy-tutored Red Devils today leaves to be seen. Congo, 61 on FIFA World ranking and winner of the 1972 edition of the Africa Cup of Na­tions in Cameroon, look favoured to flag off their campaign on high after qualify­ing ahead of the defending champion, Nigeria’s Super Eagles with a 3-2 defeat of the latter in front their home fans in Calabar.
Interestingly, Equatorial Guinea suf­fered its heaviest defeat of 6-0 in inter­national football in the hands of Congo on December 13, 1990. With the vast experience of French tactician, Le Roy in African football, the host side should have a lot to worry about in today’s open­ing fixture.
One player Equatorial Guinea’s de­fence must watch out for in the Congo­lese attack is striker Thievy Bifouma. The Almeria of Spain forward wrecked the Super Eagles during the qualifiers with a brace in Calabar and another clini­cal finish in the return leg in Congo.
Other notable forwards in the Red Devils’ attack include Guingamp of France striker, Ferebony Dore of CFR Cluj, Delvin N’Dinga of Olympiacos of Greece and Fabrice N’Guessi of Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.
Burkina Faso will take on Gabon in the second match of the day at 9pm. There will be two matches tomorrow with Zambia and Congo DR locking horns in the first game at the Bata Stadium at 6pm while Tunisia and Cape Verde Islands taking the stage at 9pm at the same venue.