Guinea return to international action with a friendly against Vanuatu on Thursday, their first fixture since reaching the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Vanuatu will be hoping to take advantage of a rare game against an established footballing nation by ending a three-match winless run.

Match preview

Although Guinea were certainly not one of the favourites to win the recent Africa Cup of Nations, they currently possess enough quality in their ranks where success was not totally out of the question.

Progressing through a group that featured Senegal and Cameroon proved that and Kaba Diawara's side did enough in their last-16 clash with Equatorial Guinea to come through by a 1-0 scoreline.

However, despite taking a 1-0 lead against DR Congo in the quarter-finals, the National Elephants would ultimately succumb to a 3-1 defeat.

That meant that the wait for a first semi-final appearance since 1976 went on, with Guinea having now suffered defeat in their last five quarter-final outings.

World Cup qualifying has already started, with Guinea having already suffered defeat to Botswana, but other options will be assessed over the next two friendlies with their star men all rested ahead of the competitive games resuming in June.

International minnows Vanuatu are participating in their first game since reaching the semi-finals of the recent Pacific Games.

A 1-0 defeat came to eventual winners New Caledonia, yet Emerson Alcantara would have taken the positives from his team pushing them all the way.

Vanuatu currently sit in 170th position in the FIFA world rankings, their only victories over the past 12 months coming against Fiji, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and Tuvalu.

The fact that seven defeats have still been posted in 12 fixtures highlights the size of the task at hand here, regardless of the team selected by Diawara.

Team News

Souleymane Camara and Sekou Diego Soumah - rather than Diawara - are taking charge of what is a second-string Guinea squad.

Morlaye Sylla, who has starred for Portuguese side Arouca this campaign, should feature in midfield, as should Cheick Conde who has started regularly for FC Zurich.

Ousmane Camara of FC Astana will likely be deployed on the flank with the remainder of the side expected to be largely made up of domestically-based players.

Meanwhile, Alcantara will likely go with his strongest team possible in a bid to upset their more illustrious opponents.

Azariah Soromon is the star player in the Vanuatu side, scoring seven goals in his 17 international appearances.

Guinea possible starting lineup:
Moussa Camara; Balde, M.B Camara, I.S Conte, Bangura; Sylla, Kane, Conde; O.Camara, Yansane, Barry

Vanuatu possible starting lineup:
Taiwia; M. Coulon, Philip, Ollie; Welwel, Moses, R. Coulon, Aru, Alick, Soromon; Tenene

We say: Guinea 3-0 Vanuatu

Although Guinea are necessarily lining up with their strongest side for this contest, it should still largely be one-way traffic. Vanuatu would take pride in a solid performance and avoiding a heavy defeat, and they may just avoid that here.


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