Equatorial Guinea: Angel Lopez steps down as national coach
- From the section African
Equatorial Guinea coach Angel Lopez has quit his job just one year after taking over, saying he needed a new challenge.
His decision comes after Equatorial Guinea edged South Sudan 2-1 on aggregate earlier this month in the preliminary round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
'Nzalang Nacional' were next due to start the group phase of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers away to Tanzania and at home to Tunisia in November.
"After an intense season and a wonderful year, I have reached an agreement with the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation and will not continue as head coach of the national team," he said in a statement sent to the BBC.
"It has been a fantastic sporting experience and I will always be proud of our achievements on the pitch. Thank you Equatorial Guinea! Thank you Nzalang Nacional!" he added.
"I'm looking for new challenge, nothing else," he added.
Lopez had nine games in charge, including a record 4-1 away win in Sudan for the small former Spanish colony in March at the end of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
They won three times, drew three and lost three under the youthful Spaniard, who was an assistant coach in La Liga with Getafe and also previously worked in China, Romania and the United Arab Emirates.
He was coach at Spanish third division side Recreativo Huelva when he got the job to work in Malabo.
"During my time there I gave a lecture at a university about my job to students and one of them came from Equatorial Guinea.
"He said afterwards that he liked my talk very much and he'd like to put me in touch with people at the Equatorial Guinea football federation. This was the start!
"After that I started to talk with the president of the Equatorial Guinea Federation and after two years of discussions, I was offered the job," Lopez recently explained about his appointment in Africa.
