Nsue opened the scoring midway through the first half before
a sparse crowd at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium and added two more goals in the
second half in a remarkable performance.
The result leaves Equatorial Guinea, who held Nigeria 1-1 in
their opening game, with four points in Group A, which also contains hosts
Ivory Coast.
With the four best third-placed teams advancing to the last
16, the Nzalang Nacional (National Thunder) are ideally placed to progress as
they look to emulate their run to the quarter-finals two years ago.
Captain Nsue, 34, is the first player to score three times
in one game at the Cup of Nations since Soufiane Alloudi did so for Morocco in
a 5-1 win over Namibia in 2008 in Ghana.
“I feel very happy. I knew this could be one of my last
Africa Cups. This is my third, so I came here mentally very strong, I trusted
in myself, and I am playing very well,” Nsue said.
“I know I have the quality to do a good job. I just want to
continue and score more goals, and I hope to be top scorer ahead of all the
superstars who are here.”
Under-21 Euro winner
Born in Mallorca, Nsue started at Real Mallorca and played
more than 100 times for them in La Liga.
He was part of the Spain team to win the Under-21 Euro in
2011 alongside the likes of David de Gea, Javi Martinez, Thiago Alcantara and
Juan Mata.
But he later opted to represent the country of his father
and captained the Equatorial Guinea team that reached the AFCON semi-finals as
hosts in 2015.
Having later played in the English Championship with
Middlesbrough and Birmingham City, Nsue, who has often performed as a
full-back, now turns out for Alicante-based Intercity in Spain’s third tier.
“This year I play as a striker. Years ago I played at
right-back, even as a central defender and winger, I played all the positions,”
he said.
“But with the national team all my life I have played as a
striker.”
He added: “One of the things I am very proud of is that I
think this is the strongest group in all the Africa Cup, and I think we will go
through in the top two, so I am very happy for that.”
Nsue opened the scoring in the 21st minute but Guinea-Bissau
drew level in the 37th minute when Esteban Orozco scored an own goal under
pressure from Franculino Dju.
Guinea-Bissau, chasing a first ever AFCON win in their 11th
match at the tournament, were awarded a penalty moments later as Dju went down
under a Saul Coco challenge.
But with Mama Balde ready to take the kick, the Rwandan
referee came across to review the images and eventually overturned his
decision.
Josete Miranda restored Equatorial Guinea’s lead two minutes
after the restart, and Nsue then took centre stage.
He converted a cross from the left flank on 51 minutes and
then rounded the goalkeeper to complete his hat-trick just after the hour mark.
The goal was eventually given after initially being ruled
out for offside, with Ze Turbo pulling another one back for Guinea-Bissau late
on.
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