Guinea get off to a flyer
There’s no national professional league, only 2,600 registered players, they’re ranked 151st in the world and 41st in Africa, and they’ve never previously qualified for a Cup of Nations. To put a squad together, they’ve had to trawl the globe looking for players with Equatoguinean heritage, or others happy to take a passport of convenience. Only two of their 23-man squad were born in Equatorial Guinea. If they weren’t co-hosts, it’s a pretty safe bet that they wouldn’t be here.
In 2006, the Confederation of African Football met to decide who would host the Cup of Nations in 2010, 2012 and 2013. It went for Angola, Gabon-Equatorial Guinea and Libya (after the uprising against Muammar Gadaffi, South Africa have stepped in, with Libya slated to host in 2017).
With FIFA giving the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, an obvious common denominator emerges: oil. Hosting tournaments is a way for newly-rich countries to market themselves.
Whether the money they spend on stadiums and infrastructure — and on the bid process itself — could be better spent on improving the lives of their citizens is open to debate. According to EG Watch (although the government disputes the figures), 75% of Equatorial Guinea’s population lives on under $1 a day (the cheapest tickets for matches are about $6.50). The government argues that, in the long term, the prestige brought by a major tournament — or by other events, such as the hosting of last year’s African Union summit — is of more use than short-term investment.
And then there is the less quantifiable factor: emotion. Saturday’s opening game, between Equatorial Guinea and Libya, began with deeply worrying scenes. A crush developed as police at the main gate to the stadium complex checked tickets individually and as crowds became impatient, tear-gas was fired. By the end, though, after Javier Balboa had run through to score an 87th-minute winner, all that was forgotten. The Estadio de Bata was a whirlpool of flailing red inflatable hands. In Malabo, streets were blocked by celebrating fans waving the national flag. In my hotel, the owner rushed around showing everybody a scratched photograph of her sitting on a sofa alongside Balboa. “He’s my friend’s brother,” she beamed. Not a football nation? It certainly felt like one.
The question now is: How far Equatorial Guinea can go? Libya was always likely to be the easiest of their group games, with both coaches agreeing before kick-off that victory was essential if their side was to make the quarter-finals. Marcos Paqueta, the Libya coach, not surprisingly, has since backtracked, but there is little doubt that in terms both of the players available and experience, Senegal and Zambia are a different level to Libya. Even on Saturday, there were times when Equatorial Guinea seemed in danger of being outclassed by opponents who looked more cohesive and were calmer in possession: it was their energy and directness that took them through.
Senegal were much-vaunted before the tournament, largely because of a forward line of Demba Ba, Mousa Sow and Mamadou Niang with Papiss Demba Cisse and Souleyman Camara in reserve. It turned out, though, that whatever their attacking riches — and it may be that even there their talents are hampered by all wanting to play in the same position — they were distinctly shaky at the back.
Zambia were brilliant in the first half, sitting deep and breaking in numbers and with pace, exposing a rickety offside line. The front running of Emmanuel Mayuka, combined with the thrusts from slightly deeper of Christopher Katongo, was devastating. Senegal had won nine of their previous 11 games, but were made to look extremely sluggish. “The first half was a catastrophe,” their coach, Armand Traore, admitted. His side improved radically after the break, and perhaps were unfortunate only to pull one back in a sustained period of pressure. The defeat, and the manner of it, could be a useful warning, highlighting a laxity that can be righted; or it may have exposed fundamental flaws.
Two years ago in Angola, Herve Renard’s Zambia were well-drilled and inventive, and had much the better of their quarter-final against Nigeria only to lose on penalties. Renard was tempted by the money on offer in Angola after that tournament, but he has returned to resume his trademark long-haired staring from the bench, and it may be that this team is even better than two years ago.
A group that had looked a foregone conclusion is suddenly wide open.
