Equatorial Guinea coach Juan Micha described Monday’s seismic 4-0 TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations win over tournament hosts Cote d’Ivoire as the result of carefully executed tactics and belief within his unfancied squad.
The minnows produced one of the greatest shocks in AFCON history by demolishing the star-studded Ivorians in Abidjan to remarkably top Group A.
A brilliant Emilio Nsue double along with sensational goals from Pablo Ganet and Jannick Buyla earned Micha’s men a historic triumph.
The comprehensively outfoxed Ivorians crashed to their heaviest ever home defeat at the AFCON finals.
And Micha felt executing the perfect gameplan enabled his team to pull off an upset for the ages.
“We knew the opponent had a lot of pressure on them which we took into account in our strategy,” explained the Equatoguinean coach after the match.
Micha added: “With our humility we made the effort to reach as far as possible against the big teams.”
Despite the remarkable result, Micha insisted his upstarts remain grounded and focused only on continual improvement.
“We are working to reach the level of the big guys. What we want is to believe in ourselves and try to win every time,” he stated.
Micha did spare a thought for crestfallen hosts Cote d’Ivoire saying: “I am hurt because they are the organising country but it is football.”
With top spot clinched, the manager stressed the need to quickly move on from their landmark triumph.
“We must forget this match and plan for the rest of the competition,” Micha noted matter-of-factly.
The shock Group A winners will fancy their chances of continuing their giant-killing run when they meet one of the third-placed sides in the last 16 on Sunday.
On this evidence, Micha has constructed a tactically astute, defensively sound unit capable of testing Africa’s elite.
While few observers gave them hope before the tournament began, Equatorial Guinea have emerged as the unlikely stars of AFCON 2023 so far.
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