Cup co-hosts wary of Ivorian stars

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Saturday, 04 February 2012

Author / Source : AFP

MALABO (EQUATORIAL GUINEA), FEB 3: Equatorial Guinea admit they did not want to face Ivory Coast Saturday in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals. The Estadio de Malabo pairing appears to be the mismatch of the last-eight phase with 133 places separating the countries on the FIFA world rankings this month.
Ivory Coast are packed with familiar English Premier League names like brothers Kolo and Yaya Toure from Manchester City, Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou of Chelsea and Gervinho from Arsenal.
Equatorial Guinea do not have a single footballer with international status and are competing in the African football showcase only because places are automatically reserved for host nations.
The Ivorian build-up to the tournament was professional and smooth, but the Equatoguineans changed coaches less than three weeks before the kick-off and captain Rodolfo Bodipo has not started a match because of a niggling injury.
While Ivory Coast triumphed against Sudan, Burkina Faso and Angola with the minimum of fuss, Equatorial Guinea shocked Libya and Senegal before coming up short against group winners Zambia.
“I wish we could have met Ivory Coast in the final rather than now,” confessed midfielder Javier Balboa, once on the payroll of Real Madrid and Benfica and now with Portuguese outfit Beira Mar.
“It is not that we cannot beat them, but their status as a star-studded team is very formidable. There are very high expectations of us across the country,” said the match-winner against Libya.
“So it would be catastrophic if we were eliminated in the quarter-finals as many hearts will be broken. Supporters are expecting us to reach the semi-finals and even the final.”
Among the supporters of the National Lightning is President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the longest serving ruler on the continent, who expects the team to “display attractive football and sporting values and win the cup”.
A fondness for football runs in the Obiang family with a son rewarding the dramatic victory over Libya in the opening match two weeks ago with a million-dollar bonus.
Suspended centre-back Laurence Doe and midfielder Iban ‘Randy’ Iyanga and rested full-back David Alvarez missed the Zambia match and should return to face the Elephants before an expected 15,000 sell-out crowd.
Ivory Coast started with nine ‘B’ team players against Angola, but coach Francois Zahoui will take no chances against the minnows and is set to wheel in his ‘big guns’ with a semi-finals date against co-hosts Gabon or Mali at stake.
That means a strike force of captain Drogba, Kalou and Gervinho and guaranteed anxiety for Brazil-born goalkeeper Danilo, one of several naturalised players in the Equatorial Guinea squad.
A pre-tournament warning by former Italy-based professional Zahoui not to underestimate any opponent-no matter how weak they appear to be-seems to be rubbing off on his stars.
“Equatorial Guinea are a very organised team who play well together and have a good spirit so we need to be careful,” emphasised centre-back Souleymane Bamba from English second-tier club Leicester City.
Reigning African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure echoed those views: “It is going to be tough playing against the co-hosts, but I believe we have the experience and the footballers to make it.”
Meanwhile, experience will be the key to Ivory Coast beating Africa Cup of Nations’ co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in Saturday’s quarter-final, coach Francois Zahoui believes.
On paper this last eight fixture in Malabo is a mis-match with the number one ranked team on the continent coming up against a side rated 42 rungs below them.
But Zahoui dismisses out of hand any suggestion that Equatorial Guinea are “weak”, and he is taking nothing for granted as he plots the Ivorians’ path to the semi-finals.
“When a team makes it into the quarter-finals it’s not by chance,” he said. “What’s more, they are playing at home, they are backed by their public. We respect them.
“We expect a difficult game against a rival playing at 300 percent of its capabilities.”
Zahoui stressed there would be no room for error as the Elephants take another step towards their dream of the title.
“We are sticking to our objective, we’ll keep cool heads, and confront each opponent with the maximum of humility and respect and take another step on the path to our final objective.”
Asked to list Equatorial Guinea’s weak points he countered: “The first mistake is to consider this a weak side. Against Sudan we only won 1-0. Football’s not only about technique, there’s the physical condition, the tactic, the mental strength.
“Equatorial Guinea will be very realist, very careful. They have fast strikers up front and a solid defensive block.
“We’ll have to be patient, and not get upset. The environment will be hostile.
“But the advantage is that my boys have experience.
“When you carry the tag of favourites it’s hard. Our experience-you can’t buy that. It’s priceless. We mustn’t panic. We’ll have up against us a team backed by their fans, and that’s a not insignificant plus for them. I know we’ll suffer, but what interests me is that we win.”     AFP