Head coach of the senior national team of Equatorial Guinea Juan Micha Obiang says his team is prepared to claim a win in their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations against the Super Eagles of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Obiang said the team is high in confidence and will approach the game with the mindset of picking a win, even though Nigeria with all their stars are the favourite heading into the game.
The Nzalang Nacional head into the game against Nigeria undefeated in their last 10 games. They have won six, and with four drawn games and have conceded once in their last four outings.
At the heart of their defence is Las Palmas defender Saúl Basilio Coco-Bassey Oubiña, better known as Saúl Coco and today he will face a major task to keep the reigning Africa footballer of the year Victor Osimhen in check.
Born in Spain to a Equatoguinean father of Nigerian descent and a Spanish mother, making him eligible to play internationally for Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria or Spain, Coco was called up to the senior squad of the former in August 2017.
He made his full international debut on 3 September, replacing Pablo Ganet in a 1–2 friendly loss to Benin and since then has remained as one of the mainstays of the team. Today he will be up against the country of his grand parents with the task of stopping one of the most lethal forwards in European football in Osimhen.
Osimhen heads into the tournament as the talisman of the Nigerian team and he will be fired up for this clash, with the aim of powering Nigeria to the AFCON title after ten years following his title triumph with Napoli, where he lifted them to their first league title in 33 years.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
