CAN - Equatorial Guinea overperforms, Senegal outclassed on a soggy pitch

Here are five things we learnt from the second round of games in Group A at CAN.

Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

• Equatorial Guinea have overperformed. Standing at 151 in the Fifa world rankings they have beaten Libya and Senegal , teams rated well above them in the monthly rankings. 

• The Estadio de Bata needs a decent drainage system. After the torrential downpours, the ground staff was out with the equivalent of superstrength paper towels trying to prepare the pitch for Zambia and Libya . By the time Equatorial Guinea played Senegal , the park resembled a dog’s dinner (depending on the calibre of your pooch, of course). 
  

• Senegal’s Lions of Teranga were gelded by teams who showed more courage and heart on surfaces of contrasting quality. Against Zambia - on an even field - they appeared witless when faced by smooth passing patterns. On a rain-sodden cabbage patch, when application was paramount, they seemed gutless. 

• The reputation of the Equatorial Guinea coach Gilson Paulo has shot into the stratosphere. After taking over on the eve of the tournament following the resignation of Henri Michel, he has fashioned a team that is more than the sum of its parts. 

• Hervé Renard, the Zambia coach, needs to have a long look at himself in the mirror and acquire a more varied colour palette to his wardrobe. Yes, there is an angular beauty about his profile but that’s not enough at this level of the game. Someone has to take him to one side and say, “Oi, Hervé, you may have the features of an international ski-wear model but not tucking your crisply ironed white shirt into your trousers is sooo 1990s."