The oldest man on the pitch was the brightest star, yesterday, when Equatorial Guinea defeated Guinea Bissau 4-2 to inch close to the second round of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Thirty-four-year-old Nsue was at his mercurial best with three goals (the first by any individual at the competition since 2008) in a second half blitz to see his side over a disorganised Guinea Bissau, who found it difficult to cope with the Nzalang Nationale’s attacking formation.
The Equatorial Guinea captain, who plays in the Spanish Second division, got the opening goal in the 21st minute when Pablo Ganet latched on to a poor clearance by Guinea-Bissau goalkeeper Ouparine Djoco, lifted the ball over the back-line into the path of Nsue, who charged through on goal and slotted his finish past Djoco.
Guinea-Bissau, beaten by hosts Cote d’Ivoire in their opening match, equalised after 37 minutes when Mauro Rodrigues sent a low cross into the box and defender Esteban turned the ball into his own net.
Moments later, Guinea-Bissau were awarded a penalty after Saul Coco appeared to bring down Franculino Dju in the area, but the decision was overturned by VAR.
Equatorial Guinea went in front in the second half when Josete Miranda capitalised on poor calculation by Sori Mane failed to deal with a long ball and Josete Miranda was able to race clear to fire home .
Nsue then took over. He took advantage of Djoco’s inability to deal with Basilio Ndong’s cross to finish at the far post. He completed his hattrick on the hour when he rounded Djoco to score before being substituted.
The goal was initially ruled out by an offside flag, but after an anxious wait was eventually given by VAR. Ze Turbo pulled another back for Guinea-Bissau on the stroke of full-time.
With the hattrick, Nsue has joined a select group that includes Morocco’s Soufiane Alloudi, Samuel Eto’o, Hossam Hassan and Benni McCarthy.
