Equatorial Guinea traders pray for team's progress to boost business
Equatorial Guinea midfielder Javier Balboa (right) battles with Burkina Faso’s midfielder Charles Kabore to the ball during their Group A match at Bata on Wednesday. PHOTO | KHALED DESOUKI |
What you need to know:
- The Nzalang Nacional (National Thunder) will play their final Group A match against Gabon in Bata on Sunday faced with a must-win situation. They drew their first two matches.
- This form is in contrast to that of three years ago, when Equatorial Guinea breezed into the quarter-finals with a game to spare when they co-hosted with Gabon after beating Libya and Senegal.
- At the moment, Esteban Becker’s charges have only managed to impress in patches whilst accumulating only two points from as many games, and will commence the final group deciding game against neighbours Gabon staring elimination from the tourney in the face.
Many Equatorial Guinea residents remain optimistic their national football team will secure passage to the knockout stages of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, despite a slow start to the campaign.
The Nzalang Nacional (National Thunder) will play their final Group A match against Gabon in Bata on Sunday faced with a must-win situation. They drew their first two matches.
This form is in contrast to that of three years ago, when Equatorial Guinea breezed into the quarter-finals with a game to spare when they co-hosted with Gabon after beating Libya and Senegal.
At the moment, Esteban Becker’s charges have only managed to impress in patches whilst accumulating only two points from as many games, and will commence the final group deciding game against neighbours Gabon staring elimination from the tourney in the face.
Unbeaten Congo will play bottom-placed Burkina Faso in the other group game to be staged simultaneously in Ebebiyin.
The home supporters aren’t, however, entertaining the thought of an early exit. “That (failure to qualify for the group stages) won’t happen.
God loves this country and will come to our rescue at the time of need. You just wait and see,” A female fan at the Estadio de Bata told me on Wednesday.
A fellow scribe from the tiny oil rich central Africa nation however had a more interesting view of how his team would qualify.
“Caf should now come to our rescue (and help us qualify) because we helped them when they did not have a host to this tournament,” he told me, without clarifying what sort of help he or the team needed, before further claiming the tournament will “collapse” without the host nation at such an early stage.
Granted, the stadiums have filled up and created a carnival atmosphere.
Sellers of national regalia including flags, and scarfs, alongside face painters and alcohol traders have posted booming business and fear that a group stage elimination for their local heroes could spell an end to interest in their wares.
