Equatorial Guinea captain Emilio Nsue wants to keep the African Nations Cup hosts' dream alive by upsetting Ghana in the semi-finals on Thursday.

The hosts will go into the clash in Malabo as clear underdogs, with Ghana an established force in the world game.

But Esteban Becker's side are already enjoying the greatest tournament in their history by making the last four and Middesbrough forward Nsue is keen to give their fans plenty more to shout about.

"We are pleased with this achievement and to see the country proud. But at this stage, anything is possible. We have showed that we can compete at that level and we will go out and do our best against Ghana,'' Spanish-born Nsue said on www.cafonline.com.

"We prepared well and we have kept our focus and concentration and taken every game one at a time.

"Our fans have also been fantastic and I would like to salute them and the people of Equatorial Guinea for their support. We hope to see them in full voice tomorrow and I hope we will continue to do well and get a dream result against Ghana.''

Equatorial Guinea only stepped in to host the tournament at the 11th hour after Morocco pulled out due to the Ebola epidemic.

Having never qualified for a World Cup, their only previous African Nations Cup campaign was in 2012 when they reached the quarter-finals.

They went one better than that by knocking Tunisia out in the last eight in the most dramatic of circumstances, Javier Balboa netting an stoppage-time equaliser and then an extra-time winner in a 2-1 victory.

Ghana will be a different proposition from any side they have faced so far, though, even if there has been plenty of criticism for striker Jordan Ayew's performances.

The Lorient man has yet to score in the tournament, but Ghana have won three in a row after losing their opening group game, seeing off Guinea 3-0 last time out.

 

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