- Emilio Nsue scored the first AFCON hat-trick since 2008 on Thursday
- He was joined by his team-mates for an iconic celebration routine afterwards
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Equatorial Guinea’s Emilio Nsue scored the first Africa Cup of Nations hat-trick since 2008 against Guinea-Bissau on Thursday – and then performed an unforgettable celebration routine with his team-mates.
After opening the scoring in the first half, Nsue netted his second six minutes into the second half to put his side back in front following Esteban Orozco Fernandez’s own goal, and then completed his hat-trick in the 61st minute by rounding the goalkeeper before slotting the ball into the empty net.
His strike was originally ruled out for offside, but VAR confirmed it was a legitimate goal, leading to wild celebrations from the Equatorial Guinea players.
Every outfield member raced over towards the corner flag before tucking their shirts in and waiting for midfielder Pablo Ganet to take charge of the routine.
Ganet, wearing the No22 jersey, then jumped up and pretended to head an imaginary ball to his right, and then did the same to his left while his team-mates copied.
Equatorial Guinea performed an iconic team celebration led by No22 Pablo Ganet
The celebration came after Emilio Nsue (pictured) completed his hat-trick in a 4-2 win against Guinea-Bissau
Nsue was mobbed by his team-mates before they gathered to perform the celebration
He then pulled off a Michael Jackson-esque dance move, popped his chest and finished off with one final imaginary header to his right.
Exactly what inspired the routine is a mystery, but it is likely to become instantly iconic, having never been seen on the world stage before.
Nsue’s hat-trick was the first since Morocco’s Soufiane Alloudi achieved the feat in a 5-1 win against Namibia 16 years ago.
Alloudi’s hat-trick remains the quickest in AFCON history, having been completed in just 28 minutes.
Equatorial Guinea went on to concede a stoppage-time goal but still eased to a 4-2 win against their rivals.
They have now taken four points from their opening two Group A matches after holding Nigeria to a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
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