Egypt coach Vitoria remains calm in the storm

Two matches without a win at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire does not seem to disturb Egypt coach Rui Vitoria.

Speaking after the Pharaohs came from behind twice to salvage a 2-2 draw against Ghana on Thursday, Vitoria said: “I have full confidence in my team. I saw men this evening who fought to the end, only victory eluded us. We showed great qualities this evening against a revitalised Ghana. The players applied our instructions perfectly. There was room to win the match.”

However, the Portuguese could not avoid the question about the injury of his captain and offensive leader Mohamed Salah, who was substituted towards the end of the opening half due to a suspected hamstring injury.

“At the moment, I cannot comment on the seriousness of his injury. Of course, we are worried and we hope it is not too serious. We will have to keep the same state of mind for the next match against Cape Verde,” he concluded.

His Ghana counterpart, Chris Hughton was frustrated with the result, which left them with just a point from two matches.

Despite the disappointing result, Hughton is not giving up.

“We will continue to fight. There is a lot of frustration in the locker room. Our team deserved more, but football is like that. It’s frustrating. In a similar performance, we would surely have won. Two errors cost us the match. We didn’t take this opportunity to take the three points,” he said.

Hughton could not avoid discussing substitute Osman Bakari, who played just a quarter of the second half before being hooked on the 90th for Joseph Paintsil.

“Firstly, I would like to say that we love Osman. However, I had to take him out because his mistakes were starting to affect his performance,” explained Hughton, whose missile is locked on Mozambique.

“There are no more small teams in Africa. We are preparing for a tough match against them. The calculations are already made, we need a victory to pursue our dream and I know we are capable of it,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea coach Juan Micha has applauded his side’s “complete performance” following a  4-2 win over Guinea-Bissau.

Emilio Nsue bagged a hat-trick to put them on the verge of the knockout stage. It was the first hattricks since 2008 when Soufiane Alloude helped Egypt to a 5-1 win over Namibia in Ghana.

“I am very happy, we had a complete victory,” said Micha. “I want to congratulate my team. We played at a good level and won in a satisfying fashion.”

The Nzalang Nacional boss said the players understood their responsibility of representing Equatorial Guinea on the big stage.

“I tell them we must behave well because we are the representatives of our country and have to give a good image,” Micha explained.

He expects improvement when they face hosts Cote d’Ivoire on Monday.

“We know it’s a big competition and we have to do better than what we are,” Micha added.

The victory leaves Equatorial Guinea needing just a point against the hosts to book a spot in the last 16.

“We have one foot in the next round but will approach Ivory Coast with the same desire and intensity to win,” said Micha.

Guinea-Bissau coach Baciro Cande has rued his side’s failure to take their chances.

“I feel sad. We wanted to win this match but we did not,” said Cande. “Before their first goal, we had four chances to score plus the penalty that was refused (denied),” Cande explained.

They had a strong penalty appeal waved away by VAR just before half-time with the match still 0-0.

Cande believed falling to one of the group’s weaker sides was a big opportunity lost.

“We worked hard to be ready for this game. Football is sometimes like that,” he said philosophically. 

Winless Guinea-Bissau now face the daunting task of needing victory over Nigeria in their final match to have any hope of advancing.

Nigeria handed hosts Cote d’Ivoire a major blow in the race for knockout qualification with a 1-0 win to leave Group A wide open.

In front of a packed Stade Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan, the two African heavyweights served up a pulsating contest.

The Ivorian fans were silenced when William Troost-Ekong converted a 54th-minute penalty after Victor Osimhen was fouled.

Despite relentless roars of support, the Elephants could not find an equaliser as the Super Eagles held on for a famous victory.

The Super Eagles stood tall in the face of intense Ivorian pressure late on to land a psychological blow on one of Africa’s proudest footballing nations.

The 1-0 triumph lifts Nigeria level on four points with surprise package Equatorial Guinea.

Cote d’Ivoire remain third on three points and need to beat Equatorial Guinea to reach the knockouts.