Equatorial Guinea made a dramatic and rich debut in the Africa Cup of Nations with a surprise 1-0 win against Libya in the tournament’s opening game.
Equatorial Guinea qualified for the first time only by dint of being the co-hosts with Gabon, but they gave Africa’s showpiece event a terrific start, despite police having to use tear gas when some of the thousands of fans at the game overcame security at Bata Stadium and attempted to force their way in.
“We played a good game. We had trained so little time, but the tactical dedication of our players was great,” the Equatorial Guinea coach, Gilson Paulo, said.
Watch the goal here:
The Libya coach, Marcos Paquetá, congratulated Equatorial Guinea.”The conditions were very difficult, facing the Equatorial Guinea team at home,” he said. “We started the game well, we kept the ball well, but the team started after that to get a bit nervous so we missed easy passes and lost control.”
