Equatorial Guinea-Côte d’Ivoire is an African Cup of Nations group stage match and is played Monday at 6 p.m.: free-to-air TV, lineups, predictions.
A narrow defeat to Nigeria has complicated the path of the host national team, Ivory Coast, now forced to beat surprising Equatorial Guinea on the final day to avoid bad jokes. The Elephants, who had won without major problems over Guinea-Bissau (2-0) in the opener, find themselves in third place, one point behind the Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria pair. Qualification for the knockout stage, however, should not be in question.
To be certain of entering the round of 16, the selection led by Frenchman Jean-Louis Gasset will have to avoid defeat at the very least: even if they do not finish three out of the top two they would certainly be among the best thirds. More complicated, however, will be to finish the round ahead of everyone: in addition to getting the better of the Equatoguineans, the Ivory Coast will have to hope that Nigeria makes a misstep with Guinea-Bissau, a rather remote hypothesis. The knockout with the Super Eagles – a penalty kick converted by former Udinese defender Troost-Ekong was decisive – meanwhile interrupted a long series of positive results by the Elephants, who had not lost since last June. Kessié and his teammates were unable to find the right countermeasures to Nigeria’s conservative tactics, which with the switch to a three-man defense sent the Ivorian attack into a tailspin.
Uphill qualification for the Ivorians
Equatorial Guinea, on the other hand, confirmed what they had shown in their debut match with Nigeria (1-1), folding Guinea-Bissau 4-2.
Nzalang Nacional literally went wild early in the second half, scoring three goals within a quarter of an hour. On the spearheads was striker Emilio Nsue – he plays for Intercity, in the Spanish minor categories – who scored a hat trick. Head coach Juan Micha may have to give up only midfielder Ganet, who went out with injury in the last match, while Gasset hopes to bring in Haller (Borussia Dortmund) and Adingra (Brighton), who are always struggling with physical problems and so far unusable.
The prediction
Ivory Coast, fresh from its disappointing performance with Nigeria, should find more space against Equatorial Guinea, the most prolific team so far (5 goals) in this round but also the second most beaten defense after that of Guinea-Bissau. For the Elephants, in any case, it will not be a walk in the park against an opponent that will do everything possible to snatch at least a draw. The number of total goals will be less than four.
The likely lineups for Equatorial Guinea-Ivory Coast
EQUATORIAL GUINEA (4-2-3-1): Owono; Akapo, Obiang, Coco, Ndong; Eneme, Bikoro; Salvador, Machin, Miranda; Nsue.
IVORY COAST (4-3-3): Y. Fofana; Aurier, Diomande, N’Dicka, Konan; S. Fofana, Sangaré, Kessié; Pépé, Krasso, Boga.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 0-1
