The African champion is down, last in his group in the African Cup of Nations and on the verge of elimination after being surprised by Equatorial Guinea (1-0), Sunday in Douala.
The hero of the “Nzalang Nacional” is called Esteban Orozco Fernández Obiang Obono, but EOFO Obono is also suitable. He appeared at the far post on a deflected corner to surprise the big Algerian favorite (70th).
Algeria’s unbeaten streak ends at 35 matches, it will not beat Italy’s 37 matches.
But there is more serious for the men of Djamel Belmadi, very agitated throughout the match. With only one point and zero goals scored, they are last in their group, before a third match against another favorite, Côte d’Ivoire.
The Elephants will have the opportunity to kick the defending champion out of the competition, already trapped in the first match by Sierra Leone (0-0).
Iban Edu Salvador man of the match
Algeria are last in a group full of surprises: Côte d’Ivoire has 4 points, Equatorial Guinea 3, and Sierra Leone 2, after equalizing at the last second against the Elephants on an error by the Ivorian goalkeeper ( 2-2).
With only one small point, Algeria is forced to beat Ivory Coast, otherwise it returns to Algiers much earlier than expected.
The African champions can blame themselves, they missed a lot of opportunities, like these three strikes in a row repelled by Jesus Owono, the substitute goalkeeper of Deportivo Alaves (22nd).
Among all the opportunities that Algeria missed, we can mention a shot from Youcef Atal (42nd), a free kick from Youcef Belaïli deflected (69th), a header from Ramy Bensebaïni (70th).
Until the end the Greens pushed, but in vain.
But Equatorial Guinea, in its third CAN, the first for which it qualifies, after having organized or co-organized two, did not steal its victory.
She owes a lot to the charisma of Iban Edu Salvador, with her hair dyed pink. Elected man of the match, the player from L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, in a Spanish lower division, spent a lot of time demanding yellow cards from the referee.
But the warrior, a sort of Equatorial Guinean Thiago Motta, is also the best technical element of the Nzalang (Antelope), as shown by his fine pass for Luis Nlavo, who hit Mbholi (50th).
Iban Edu also hit a free kick, saved close to the post by Mbholi (37th), stimulated, simulated, harangued, ran and played until the last moment of the match. He is Algeria’s nightmare.