Author of a hat-trick during the second day of the group stages of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023, Equatorial Guinea captain, Emilio Nsue became the first player to score a Hat-trick in the competition since the 2008 edition.
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The 34-year-old entered a very closed circle of players who have managed this feat when his three goals contributed to the 4-2 victory over Guinea-Bissau on Thursday, 18 January.
This has been an 16-year wait for as Nsue, who is currently leading the goal scoring charts in Cote d’ivoire with his 5 goal tally. He is also the only player to score a hat-trick so far in this year’s edition.
With his hat-trick, the Equatorial Guinea skipper became the 17th player to score a hat-trick since the first edition of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON that was played in Sudan in 1957. This was also the 18th hat-trick of the competition since its 1957 inception.
At 34, Nsue who plies his trade with CF Intercity in Spain is living a fairy tale.
During his two previous participations in the 2015 and 2021 editions, the Equatorial Guinean striker had only found the net once, despite his team’s remarkable performance.
When speaking to CAFOnline before the start of the competition, Nsue did promise that he would do better than in his previous appearances.
“Personally, my last African Cup of Nations was not my best. I will try to show a very good performance on the field, and we will try to win all the matches,” declared the captain.
Through his performances and the state of mind he displays on and off the field, Emilio Nsue contributes to transcending his team which finished leader of Pool A with 7 points and has certainly not yet finished creating the surprise in this competition.
Through his rich vein of form, he has contributed to his side’s historic Group A top finish with 7 points which is highlighted by a 4-0 demolition of tournament hosts, Cote d’Ivoire.
