Introduction
In June 2014, Equatorial Guinea were disqualified from participation at the 2015 AFCON due to fielding an ineligible player in qualification. Fast forward five months and they’ve not only been reinstated into the competition, they’ll be doing so as hosts.
Their disqualification came as no surprise to the African footballing community after a sordid history of courting over 100 foreign players to field for their national team over the past decade.
Despite the underlying rulings set by FIFA and CAF, Equatorial Guinea continue this process, and will undoubtedly be under scrutiny once the tournament kicks off. The small nation of under one million inhabitants has long strived for greater recognition, preferring to pay for instant results rather than improving their youth production.
The issue has only just been recognised in the last few years since hosting the AFCON in 2012. Equatorial Guinea surprised many to make it through to the knockout phases, firmly shining a spotlight on their recruitment process that had been in place for some years.
Further disruption was felt on the eve of the tournamen
the tournament as Spaniard Andoni Goikoetxea was sacked at the turn of the year followed by a non-publication of a preliminary squad shortly after.
The Framework
The majority of the nationalised recruits and coaches joining the Equatoguinean squad in the last decade have hailed from Spain and have subsequently transformed the national team’s ideology into a more technical possession based approach that stands out against their regional opponents.
However, with the amount of new “signings” being brought in over time, individual flair has been preferred resulting from a lack of familiarity between team mates. Before facing the axe, Goikoetxea usually adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation, with attacking unpredictable wingers built around Mauricio Mina (or as the FA will tell you Mauricio Ondo) in the centre of the attack.
Strengths
Attack – Equatorial Guinea possess comparative riches over their rivals in the attacking third. The acquisition of Mina, will be added to the likes of former Real Madrid striker Javier Balboa and wingers; Ivan Bolado and youngster Ruben Belima, to suggest a wealth of talent in front of goal.
The fact that, Equatorial Guinea have only just been granted qualification, also gives them a clear advantage of being a relative unknown. Widely considered as way outside the top echelons in African football, less preparatory data on the host nation should provide some unpredictable results against much stronger opposition.
Equatorial
Guinea