Equatorial Guinea are out of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire after Mohamed Bayo’s late header sent Guinea through to the quarter-finals of the competition on Sunday.
Both teams had to settle for a goalless draw at halftime in the close game but the tide shifted towards Guinea’s side 10 minutes after the break when Equatorial Guinea were down to 10 men after Federico Bikoro was sent off for a dangerous tackle.
The red card definitely gave Guinea more advantages in the game. But it was Equatorial Guinea that would go ahead to have the best chance of scoring after the red card when the latter were awarded a penalty after a hard tackle on Ivan Salvador inside the box.
However, Equatorial Guinea’s group stage hero Emilio Nsue scoring five goals as they came out of Group A as group winners, quickly became a villain after his kick struck the lower post out for a goalkeeper.
The game continued with the same scoreline until the last minute of the stoppage time when Mohamed Bayo headed home Ibrahim Diakite’s cross home to send Guinea through to the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Guinea will face the winner of the round of 16 game between Egypt and DR Congo later today.
Speaking after the game, head coach of the Guinea national team, Kaba Diawara, said: “I have been preparing with my boys for two years. We had to do it this year after we were surprised in the last edition.”
Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea head coach Juan Micha said the red card negatively impacted the performance of his players in the game.
He said, “I believe that our team played at a very high level today and they played to the last minute of the game,” he said. “The red we suffered was critical to our performance but this is football. I congratulate our opponents for the win.’’
