The beautiful story ends there for Emilio Nsue.
With five goals on the clock, the 34-year-old striker appeared on the podium at the Stade Alassane Ouattara, to receive his prize as top scorer, after the CAN final.
Unknown before this African Cup of Nations, the player from Intercity Alicante, in the 3rd Spanish division, has overtaken the favorites for the trophy like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané or Victor Osimhen.
However, his behavior in Côte d'Ivoire would not have been exempt from all reproach.
In a press release, the Equatorial Guinea Football Federation (FEGUIFUT) announced the suspension of its captain, as well as the other striker of the selection Edu Salvador.
The two players in fact took part in “several episodes of serious indiscipline”, including one in which Salvador participated, which forced the police to intervene on site in Abidjan.
The two players are suspended “until further notice”, indicates the federation.
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Nzalang Nacional says goodbye, for the moment, to the best player in the selection since he guided his team to a historic victory against Ivory Coast (4-0) with a double.
A few days earlier, he had scored a hat-trick to beat Guinea-Bissau.
The Equatorial Guineans created a surprise by qualifying for the round of 16 before failing against Guinea.
Equatorial Guinea will try to qualify for their first World Cup in 2026. Second in their qualifying group, they are tied on points with Tunisia.
As a reminder, each team in its group will have a ticket for the World Cup while the best runners-up will compete in a play-off tournament in the Africa zone.