Full-time: Equatorial Guinea 0-0 Burkina Faso
That was a rambunctious game with frustratingly little quality in front goal. Burkina Faso, in particular, bungled in the box and, having failed to score in either of their game so far, they are in a dicey position at the bottom of the group. The hosts will need something from Gabon in their last game to progress, which looks unlikely.
90 min: There’ll be three more minutes...
88 min: Momenst after surviving a scare at their own end following a mistake by Koffi, Burkina romp forward and Bertrand Traore wins a corner. It’s now or never for the Stallions. OK, now, never, or in a couple of minutes.
86 min: The hosts sends a corner towards the enormous Bosio, who is stationed on the keeper in an attempt to blot out his view. Sanou, however, does well to leap above the giant and punch the ball clear.
Equatorial Guinea substitutions: it’s another odd one, as Javier Balboa and Kike are taken off. Following the removal of Iban Edu earlier on, the home manager has replaced the team’s three most dangerous-looking players.
Burkina Faso substitution: Pitroipa off, Nakoulma on.
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80 min: Sanou races out of his box to intercept a ball over the top. His header does not banish the danger and Doulla has a chance to lash it over him and into the net from 40 yards. He’s not feeling that optimistic, however, so tries to serve a more advanced team-mate. And fails.
78 min: The pressure is building from Burkina ... but their finishing is not yet improving: Alain Traore smashes one wide from 16 yards after a good move.
77 min: Dreadful attempted pass by Kabore, who looks absolutely grief-stricken by his mistake.
76 min: Dear oh dear, are Burkina ever going to score? Pitroipa has just tonked another one off target. He shimmied nicely to set up the shot for himself after foxy play by Bertrand Traore, but again the finishing was inadequate.
73 min: Kike squanders a chance for glory! After a nice turn to create space for a shot in the box, he scooped his effort over the bar from 14 yards.
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72 min: A bit of panic seems to be gripping the home defence - their players may be suffering from fatigue, as they did in this stage in the first match. If Burkina Faso can’t capitalise and end their goal drought now, you wouldn’t fancy their chances of beating Congo in their final group game.
Equatorial Guinea substitution: Iban Edu, who has played brilliantly, is replaced by Edjogo.
66 min: Yago does well as the game grows ever more frenetic. The defender wins the ball on half-way and instigates an attack. Bance sends a wobbly shot towards Ovono, who saves after two attempts.
64 min: Impressive jinking run by Kike, followed by a wicked shot that bounces just in front of the keeper. Sanou keeps his concentration and hold.
62 min: Kike pings in a corner. Rank defending allows it to fly all the way to Nsue, who wasn’t expecting the ball and botches his attempted shot from 10 yards.
60 min: Half an hour to go and this game is truly up for grabs ...
58 min: Powerful and smart defending by Rui, who calmly ushers Pitroipa off the ball at the edge of his own six-yard box and the strides free of danger.
56 min: Great chance for Equatorial Guinean! D Kone lost possession cheaply inside his own half and the hosts tore forward, Balboa working the ball to Doulla, who burst into the box and opened fire from 16 yards ... into the sidenetting.
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54 min: Koffi floats a cross from the right way over to the left-hand side of the box, where A Traore meets it with a stonking volley, which hurtles over the bar.
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51 min: What a miss! A hoisted cross from the right found Bance at the back post and he headed it back across the face of goal. Pitroipa should have rammed it into the net from close range but he lacked conviction and Ovono was able to scramble the ball away! Burkina’s ability to undo good approach play with slipshod finishing is bordering on absurd.
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50 min: Nsue appear to have decided at half-time that this game is there for the wining - and they’ve made a concerted attempt to get more players into the box quickly. Suddenly Burkina are looking unsteady at the back.
47 min: No changes during the break. And the first chance of the second period is created by Nsue, who has looked dangerous throughout. He unhinged the Burkinabe defence with a jolting run and then fed Iban Edu, who crossed towards the back post. Kike met it but couldn’t guide his header on target.
Half-time: Equatorial Guinea 0-0 Burkina Faso
No game in this tournament has yet ended without a goal and this one looks unlikely to be the first. It’s wildly open and awash with chances. Burkina Faso, as in their first match, have been guilty of erratic finishing and also been denied by decent goalkeeping from Ovono, while the hosts have been been second best but still created chances.
44 min: A timely block by Yago stops Nsue from doing to Burkina what Aubameyang did.
42 min: Another great chance for Burkina, but again the shot is less than emphatic. A defender throws himself in front of it to block.
40 min: Ovono makes two good saves in quick succession. Burkina were frustrated by a goalkeeper named Ovono (of Gabon) in their first match, are they going to suffer the same fate here?
39 min: Alain Traore spanks one against the post again! This time it wasn’t from a freekick but a flowing move featuring, for once, a well-placed final ball and a delicious volley from Traore!
37 min: Splendid enterprising run through midfield by Jagvier Balboa. But he then aborts the chance of catching out the Burkina defence by giving the ball away. But the hosts have shown enough intent and sharpness to warn Burkina that they could spring a shock here if Pitroipa & Co don’t summon more precision in the final third.
35 min: “There is a lot of colour about the whole stadium,” notes Eurosport co-commentator Bryan Hamilton. “You know, the reds, the greens and so on.” Painting pictures with words, right there.
33 min: Becker applauds as Nsue slices open the Burkina defence with a canny ball. Sipo hares into the box and shoots from an acute angle, gaining only a corner. Which is wasted.
30 min: Yet another freekick in this increasingly scrappy contest. Bance hammers it goalward but Ovono punches it to safety.
27 min: After the National Thunder’s freekick comes to nothing, Burkina break forward like lightning. Mbele ends it brutally, smashing into Pitroipa and sending him skyward. He’s lucky to get away with just a yellow card, though it does mean he’ll be suspended for their next game, against Gabon.
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25 min: Iban Edu’s freekick hits the wall. Sanou tries to retrieve and, in the process, shows that he was watching Thibaut Courtois at Anfield last night, as he seems to carry the ball outside the box. That’s another freekick. In fact, time to draft a letter of protest: because a replay shows that the keeper did not, in fact, leave his box but stopped right on the line.
24 min: Beautiful play by Equatorial Guinea brings yelps of glee from the crowd! After a snappy move, Iban Edu jinked past two players some 10 yards outside the Burkina box before being booted to the ground. Freekick!
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22 min: Gouo booked for handball. It didn’t seem intentional. Then again, waving both hands above your head when diving into a tackle is no way to curry favour with refs.
20 min: The hosts are showing lots of zest and purpose, but Burkina are clearly better. If they fail to convert that superiority into goals they’ll deserve to be eliminated.
17 min: Promising freekick to Burkina after B Traore is scythed down. A Traore curls it around the wall but Ovono pushes it on to the post.
14 min: After a bout of bitty play, Burkina string a nice move together and eventually Bertrand Traore threads a nice ball through to his brother Alain, who only has the goalkeeper to beat ... or would have if he’d stayed onside.
11 min: Strange play from Burkina. They have an abundance of nifty schemers, yet their defenders have so far been eager to just bang the ball towards Bance up front. They’re playing into Equatoguinean hands.
8 min: Where is a sharp Burkina Faso striker when you need one? Bance charged down the right and sent an inviting low ball across the face of goal but there was no one there to turn it into the net. That’s not the clinical approach they require.
6 min: A lovely shimmy by Kike outfoxes Gouo, who clatters into him to concede a freekick wide on the right. Alas, the subsequent set-piece delivery was as bad as the tackle that led to it.
4 min: Seconds after I wrote that last entry Nsue tried to make a liar of me. He darted into the box and would have got a shot off if not for an impeccable sliding tackle by Bakary Kone.
3 min: As expected, Burkina are dominating the early exchanges, with the hosts cowed by the Stallions rapid interplay.
1 min: Game on. Pitch looks immaculate. Burkina looks for the returning Bance early on but the pass towards the striker is over-hit.
The players are on the pitch, Burkina in green jerseys and red epaulettes, the hosts in their familiar ketchup red. The stadium looks about 79% full, or 21% empty if you prefer to view things that way.
Conspiracy theory
I haven’t got the Equatoguinean line-up yet but I do have news of a letter of protest that their association sent to the Confederation of African Football to complain having an Nsue goal ruled out for offside in their opening game. The hosts have reportedly formally declared that they are wondering whether there is a deliberate attempt to “complicate” their progress to the quarter-finals. Nothing like getting your excuses in early doors.
Teams:
Equatorial Guinea: Ovono, Randy, Mbele, Rui, Sipo Bohale, Ellong, Zarandona, Balboa, Kike, Nsue, Iban.
Subs: Embela, Evuy, Engonga, Juvenal, Ruben Belima, Fabiani, Bolado, Dario, Charly, Angel, Ganet, Mosibe.
Burkina Faso: Sanou, Koffi, Bakary Kone, Yago, Gouo, Djakaridja Kone, Kabore, Pitroipa, Bertrand Traore, Alain Traore, Bance.
Subs: Fofana, Yedan, Rouamba, Koulibaly, Guira, Bambara, Balima, Zongo, Ouedraogo, Abdou Razak Traore, Nakoulma, Soulama.
Ref: N Alioum (Cameroon)
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Preamble:
Less than a week into the tournament and we have our first make-or-break contest: if Burkina Faso lose to the hosts this afternoon they will have no chance of repeating their run to the final of two years ago. To avoid that sorry outcome the Stallions will need to harness their undoubted talent and be much more decisive in front of goal than they were during their first match, when they were beaten 2-0 by Gabon.
They showed enough in that match and in the last two years to convince that they have enough quality to overcome Equatorial Guinea and, what’s more, their captain, Charles Kaboré, has said that they are going into this match in the right frame of mind, unlike in the first game. “The beginning was difficult for us because we spent a lot of time complaining,” explained Kaboré. “Now there are no more complaints so we have to roll up our sleeves, work hard and convert our chances.” What, you may be wondering, did they complain about before the game against Gabon? Their hotel in Bata, of course, because when they got there they found that they were expected to stay in the same place as a bunch of sweaty journalists, which is obviously intolerable.
As for the National Thunder, or Equatoguinean team if you prefer, they go into the game on the back of a decent opening match in which they held on for a point against Congo despite visibly tiring in the second half, when their lack of match practice took a heavy toll. But it would be a major surprise if they ousted Burkina today.
