Baciro Cande © Backpage Pix
Equatorial Guinea will battle Guinea-Bissau in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Group A match at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan on Thursday.
Kickoff is at 4 p.m. CAT (SA, GMT+2).
CURRENT FORM
National Thunder are currently third in the Group A table, having started their group stage campaign with a 1-1 draw with a highly-fancied Nigerian side on January 14.
The draw extended Equatorial Guinea’s impressive unbeaten run to 11 matches in all competitions – with six draws and five wins.
Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau got off to a losing start in Group A as they suffered a 2-0 loss to hosts Ivory Coast on January 13 to sit fourth in the group standings.
The African Wild Dogs are now winless in their last two matches in all competitions having recorded two consecutive defeats.
GROUP NEWS
The two teams have yet to report any injuries and both sides have no suspension concerns going into this meeting.
WHAT HE SAID;
Equatorial Guinea coach Juan Miha
“I think this selection that I lead is preparing day by day to compete in this tournament… I am lucky to know the details of football having been a high level player [Jesus Owono]Micha said.
“Our mission is not complete, we still have a lot to do. We are in the group stage, this is the first match. We will try to get to the next stage before we see what happens next.”
Guinea-Bissau coach Bakiro Kante
“We played our game. We had a good chance with Mama Balde but we didn’t finish it. We created chances but the goals didn’t materialize,” Cande said.
“We have to make up for our mistake by working on the next games. There are still six points to play for and I think anything is possible.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Emilio Nsue, Equatorial Guinea: With 17 goals in 41 games for the National Thunder, the 34-year-old has what it takes to inspire his country to a win over Guinea-Bissau.
Mama Balde: The African Wild Dogs will look to the hard-working striker to score goals against Equatorial Guinea and he recently scored a morale-boosting goal in a friendly against Mali.
HEAD TO HEAD
Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau have met twice in all competitions.
African Wild Dogs are unbeaten against National Thunder having won both matches.
The last meeting between the two teams ended in a 2-0 win for Guinea-Bissau in a friendly match played in Portugal in March 2022.