Soccer-Nations Cup hosts seek to surf wave of passionate support

Reuters

By Mark Gleeson MONGOMO, Equatorial Guinea, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Equatorial Guinea return to African Nations Cup action on Wednesday hoping passionate home support can propel them towards the knockout phase when they face a strong Burkina Faso team who need a win. Burkina Faso have retained most of the side who reached the final of the last edition but have put themselves under some pressure after losing their opening Group A match on Saturday to Gabon, even though they had a host of chances to win it. Equatorial Guinea conceded a late equaliser that denied them a famous win in the tournament's opening match against Congo, also on Saturday, which ended 1-1. Congo play Gabon in Wednesday's second match of the double-header bill at Estadio de Bata where they also need a result. The Congo squad have had to overcome several hotel and transport problem which upset their veteran coach Claude Le Roy. Gabon, who beat Burkina Faso 2-0 on Saturday, will take a big step towards a quarter-final place with another win. On Tuesday, 10-man Ivory Coast came from behind to draw 1-1 with Guinea at the start of Group D in Malabo after which Cameroon and Mali finished with the same scoreline. (Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ken Ferris)