Defending champions Algeria are on the brink of a group-stage exit from the Africa Cup of Nations after suffering a shock 1-0 loss to Equatorial Guina in Cameroon on Sunday, January 16th, 2022.
Esteban Obiang who plays for Anteguera CF in the Segunda Division RFEF which is the Spanish fourth tier league slid in at the far post to convert a flick-on and net the only goal with 20 minutes left in Douala.
The result ended Algeria’s unbeaten run at 35 matches, two short of Italy’s world record set last year, as they suffered their first defeat since October 2018.
Algeria who had had two goals ruled out have just one point from their opening two games and must beat Ivory Coast in their final Group E game to have a chance of reaching the last 16.
Equatorial Guinea reached the Nations Cup semi-finals as hosts in 2015 but, having qualified for the tournament by right for the first time, this will go down as one of their biggest results in their history.
Juan Micha’s side move on to three points and are second in Group E, with Ivory Coast top on four points, Sierra Leone third on two and Algeria bottom on one.
The tight nature of the group will make Thursday’s final round of games fascinating, with the Equatoguineans facing the Leone Stars in Limbe at the same time as Algeria take on Ivory Coast in Douala (16:00 GMT).
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