Senegal and Equatorial Guinea will lock horns at the Ahmadou Ahidjou in Yaoundé on behalf of the quarterfinals of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021.
While Senegal were expected to be there as one of the pre-tournament favorites, Equatorial Guinea defied many odds to reach the quarters as one of this AFCON Black Horses.
Match Card
Date: 30 January 2022
Time: 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT)
Venue: Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, Yaounde
Quarterfinals
Match: Senegal v Equatorial Guinea
Senegal – Digging for Gold
Aliou Cissé’s side, who have not yet shown their true colors since the start of the competition, remain timid with two wins, two draws and three goals scored without any conceded so far.
Teranga Lions remain favorites for the February 6 final. They will be looking to the heroics of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, defender Kalidou Koulibaly and superstar Sadio Mané to go past the Equatorial Guinea hurdle and cut one more step towards the gold they are chasing for the first time.
What they said
Aliou Cissé (Coach, Senegal)
“We are going to approach this match as we have done before, with humility and confidence. We will play against a good team from Equatorial Guinea that we know well. We have great respect for this team which has good players. We have been gaining momentum since the start of the competition and we will play our best football to get to the semi-finals. Sadio Mané is doing better. We hope to get him back for tomorrow’s game.”
Bouna Sarr (Player, Senegal)
“We are preparing for our tournament in the best possible conditions. All the matches are important for us. There has been progress with each match, and it is now up to us to work as strong as ever.”
Equatorial Guinea – One more surprise
Against many odds, Micha’s side has been ideal during this AFCON edition. After a narrow defeat to Côte d’Ivoire Nzalang Nacional stunned holders Algeria and Sierra Leone to reach the Round of 16, where they surprised Mali to go through.
Equatorial Guinea, participating for the third time their history, hope to do as in 2015 or better, when the Nzalang Nacional reached the semifinals. A difficult but not impossible mission for a team that has always demonstrated its qualities to always go further.
What they said
Juan Micha (Coach, Equatorial Guinea)
“Our team is ready, both physically and mentally. We respect Senegal, runners up of the previous edition. It will be a final for us, and we will play our game to put on a good match and go as far as possible. It’s true that we won against Senegal in 2012 AFCON but we are not the favorites this time.”
Santiago Eneme (Player, Equatorial Guinea)
“We reached the quarterfinals thanks to our seriousness and all the work done since the start of the tournament. We are a young team that dreams of going as far as possible. Our ambition is to win and put on a good show.”
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