TOPS
Iban Edù's huge match
Named man of the match without having scored or delivered an assist, Iban Edu shone.
Clever, he played on the palpable nervousness of the Algerians to make them commit many faults and was the most dangerous element of the Equatorial Guinean team.
In attack and even in defence, the Equatoguinean n°6 stood out as well for the color of his bright pink hair as for his enormous activity at all levels of the game. Until the end, he gave everything , like his rush in the 80th, his last effort before giving up his place a few minutes later, to the ovation of the Stade Omnisports de Douala.
To discover
Africa Cup of Nations: schedule and results
African Cup of Nations standings
Esteban Orozco, the hero of an entire people
Sole scorer, Esteban Orozco has just engraved his name on the memory of an entire people.
Thanks to his fox goal, he offered victory and a second place in the Group E standings to Equatorial Guinea, which is only living its third participation in a CAN.
His tears when celebrating his goal testify to how important this goal is for him, a Spanish division 4 player and all of Equatorial Guinea.
A few minutes from time, he prevented the Algerians from coming back to score by deflecting a cross from Attal in front of goal.
FLOPS
The impotence of the Algerian attack
Two matches, zero goals. This is the balance sheet displayed by the Algerian attack carried by headliners of the European scene like Mahrez or Slimani (to a lesser extent). The Fennecs attack has been unrecognizable since the start of this CAN. Admittedly, Djamel Belmadi's men have faced great goalkeepers twice (Kamara in the first match and Owono this evening), but like Slimani's completely crushed strike in the 82nd minute, they missed the unmissable. Mahrez, captain and attacking leader of this Algerian team, was completely invisible in the second half, despite having made a good start to the game. This Sunday evening, the Algerian team can only attackto himself and to his completely distraught attack and defense.
The end of a series of 35 matches without defeats
In addition to finding himself at the edge of the precipice in this CAN, the reigning champion and winner of the last Arab Cup has just ruined a record that is more than 2 years old.
The Fennecs had not lost a match since October 19, 2019, i.e. 35 matches without defeats.
Two short matches from equaling the Italian record (37), the Fennecs come up against the harsh reality of the CAN, where any nation is ready to knock the defending champion's head off.