Friday, January 20, 2012

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21.01. (Sat) 19:30 Equatorial Guinea - Libya

CAF African Cup Of Nations 2012 - Gabon & Equatorial Guinea

PROBABLE LINEUPS

EQUATORIAL GUINEA


DaniloAlvarez, Doe, Gomes, SipotoKamissoko, Ekedo
Fidjeu, Ekanga, Juvenal
Randy
LIBYA


AboudLafi, Belreesh, Chtiba, Salama
Mabrouk, Saad, Al Khatroushi, Sanaani
Boussifi, Zuway
Though they will surely have incredible home support to rely on, Equatorial Guinea are facing a tough challenge in the opening match of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. The lead-up to the tournament has been a difficult one for the Nzalang Nacional, who saw their previous coach, Henri Michel, quit just over a month ago, citing a lack of support from the country’s football federation and the government meddling in sporting affairs.
Michel’s departure left his Brazilian replacement, Gilson Paulo, having to pick his final squad for the competition just under a week after his first training session. Clearly, the situation is far from ideal. Nevertheless, the players – some of whom were only recently nationalised – won’t just be fighting for national pride as they’ve been promised a one million dollar cash prize to split between them should they defeat their Libyan visitors.
In comparison, the newly nicknamed 'Knights of the Mediterranean' have had a relatively straightforward preparatory period, even though their qualification was anything but that. The main issue for Marcos Paqueta is that Oussama Fazzani’s unexplained withdrawal leaves only two true strikers in the squad, Iheb Boussifi and Ahmed Zuway. That may not be a problem in the first encounter, but could develop into one as the tournament goes forward depending on injuries and suspensions.
Given the extreme challenges they had to surmount during the Libyan revolution in order to make it to their first Afcon since the 2006, the north Africans aren’t likely to be intimidated by the hostile environment at the Bata Stadium.
DID YOU KNOW?

  • Libya fell to a narrow 1-0 loss against title favourites Cote d’Ivoire in a pre-tournament friendly recently.
  • Equatorial Guinea were held to a 1-1 draw against Cameroonian champions Cotonsport on January 13.
  • Some of the Libyan players in the team such as Walid El Khatroushi fought with the revolutionaries who ousted Muammar Gaddafi from power.
  • Included in the Nzalang Nacional side are naturalised players from Brazil (Danilo Emanuel), Liberia (Lawrence Doe), and Cameroon (Thierry Fidjeu and Narcisse Ekanga).
  • This will be the first official match played between the two nations.
Prediction
Given their tumultuous preparations and the lack of cohesion, it is hard to imagine that Equatorial Guinea can emerge with anything better than a draw in this encounter.
Editor's Prediction
Equatorial Guinea 1-1 Libya