A Closer Look At Africa's Representatives At The FIFA Women's World Cup 2011-EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Equatorial Guinea,2010 squad

Equatorial Guinea showed up as hosts of the African Women Championship in 2008 and silenced the African women's soccer world by handing Nigeria their only defeat and later beating South Africa by 2 goals to 1 at the final,thereby announcing their arrival as the the team to beat and a dominant force in women's soccer in Africa.
They followed up their stellar performance in 2010-South Africa when they advanced to the final once again to meet an in-form Nigeria Super Falcons but fell short, when they went down by 2 goals to 4,amidst controversy.

Equatorial Guinea's efforts were rewarded with a world cup berth alongside Africa's serial world cup representatives, Nigeria.The team suffered a tragedy soon after, when a key member of the team, Teclaire Bille Esono passed away in a car accident in Cameroon.Nonetheless, Equatorial Guinea still remains a force to be reckoned with in women's soccer on the African continent. They soldiered on through the Olympic games qualifiers with the absence of  the Simpore sisters and are currently 2 games away from qualifying for London 2012.

Equatorial Guinea 2011

The team has evolved since South Africa 2010 with the arrival of Brazilian coach Marcelo Frigero and the addition of new players to strengthen the squad.With Germany 2011 being their maiden appearance at the FIFA women's world cup,the team has vowed to leave their mark on the competition by exhibiting their brand of soccer and thereby giving their best.Arriving in Germany almost a month ahead of the world cup,Marcelo Frigero and his charges are leaving no stone unturned as they make their final tune up in readiness for the kick off. Equatorial Guinea is drawn in difficult group with Norway,Brazil and Australia completing Group D.


Strengths
Equatorial Guinea's strengths lies in the tenacity of their midfielders and the able hands of goalkeeper Marian.


Weaknesses
Their goals seems to have dwindled lately and it will be interesting to see how they measure up against the opposition.Defensive organization is a problem that has been exploited by opponents in past competitions.


Players to watch
Genoveva Anonma,Jade Boho.


The stats
1 – The number of times Equatorial Guinea have won the African crown. That was back in 2008, when they also handed Nigeria their only-ever defeat in the event.

10 – The number of goals Equatorial Guinea scored at the African Women’s Championships in 2010.