At the conclusion of the match against Barça last nightSaúl Coco packed his bags to attend the African Cup with his team. The Lanzarote central defender could not hurry his presence in the island derby on Sunday against Tenerife, since Juan Micha, the Equatorial Guinea coach, is already asking him to be present in the national team’s friendly on the 8th against Cameroon in preparation for the phase of groups of the continental tournament.
Precisely, Equatorial Guinea’s first match in the Africa Cup will be on January 14 against Nigeria, now in the Ivory Coast, where the continental championship is held. So, obviously Coco will not be available for the clash against Villarreal which will be held on January 13 in Siete Palmas at 1:00 p.m.
This will be the first league match in which García Pimienta cannot line up Coco and he will break a streak of eleven games as a starter since he began to emerge in the opportunity that the coach gave him at the Bernábéu against Real Madrid.
Precisely a match against the white team that could be lost in this second round of the league, also in Siete Palmas.
For himo, Equatorial Guinea must qualify for the knockout phase of the African Cup in a group in which the Nzalang team will have to face Guinea-Bissau on January 18 and the host Ivory Coast four days later to close the first phase of the tournament.
Therefore, with the clash against the Elephants on January 22Coco will also not be able to be present in Vallecas to play against Rayo, a clash in which in the first round he played only 45 minutes since Pimienta reserved him for half-time after seeing the yellow card in the 20th minute and passing Álex Suárez to the central position and introduce Julián Araujo on the side to find greater depth on the right side.
In the event that Equatorial Guinea reaches the quarterfinals, to be played between February 2 or 3, Coco would not be able to play against Granada either; while the semifinal will be played on the 7th of the same month; and on the 11th the match for the African title, a week in which UD plays against Valencia.
