Clubless Nsue Named in E’Guinea Squad for AFCON

Equatorial Guinea lent heavily on their community in Spain for their Africa Cup of Nations squad which was named yesterday.

Coach Juan Micha picked 16 Spanish-born players in the 28-man squad for the tournament, which kicks off in Cameroon on 9 January.

Among the 16 is captain Emilio Nsue, formerly with Middlesbrough and Birmingham City, who is named despite currently being without a club

The 32-year-old was most recently playing in Cyprus and left Apoel Nicosia at the end of last season after a second stint with the club.

Nsue led the Nzalang Nacional to the semi-finals of the 2015 Nations Cup on home soil, where they lost 3-0 to Ghana.

The vast majority of the players are at small clubs in the lower tiers of league football in Spain.

Equatorial Guinea will be making their third finals appearance, but the first as qualifiers after co-hosting the 2012 tournament and hosting on their own in 2015.

They will compete in Group E start against the Ivory Coast in Douala on 12 January before taking on defending champions Algeria and Sierra Leone.
Equatorial Guinea squad for Afcon 2021

Goalkeepers: Aitor Embela (Somozas, Spain), Jesus Owono (Deportivo Alaves, Spain), Manuel Sapunga (Futuro Kings, Equatorial Guinea), Mariano Magno (Deportivo Unidad, Equatorial Guinea).

Defenders: Carlos Akapo (Cadiz, Spain), Marvin Anieboh (Cacereno, Spain), Cosme Anvene (Deportivo Unidad, Equatorial Guinea), Saul Coco (Las Palmas, Spain), Miguel Angel Maye (Futuro Kings, Equatorial Guinea), Luis Meseguer (Navalcarnero, Spain), Basilio Ndong (Start, Norway), Luis Enrique Nsue (Futuro Kings, Equatorial Guinea), Esteban Obiang (Antequera, Spain)

Midfielders: Javier Akapo (Ibiza Islas Pitiusas, Spain), Alex Balboa (Deportivo Alaves, Spain), Ruben Belima, Federico Bikoro (both Hercules), Jannick Buyla (Gimnastic Tarragona, Spain), Santiago Eneme (Nantes, France), Pablo Ganet (Real Murcia, Spain), Jose Machin (Monza, Italy), Josete Miranda (Niki Volos, Greece).

Forwards: Dorian Hanza (Langreo, Spain), Luis Nlavo (Sporting Braga, Portugal), Emilio Nsue (unattached), Pedro Oba (Futuro Kings, Equatorial Guinea), Iban Salvador (Fuenlabrada, Spain), Oscar Siafa (Olympiakos Volos, Greece).