The Africa Cup of Nations 2021 – even if it is held in 2022 – is leaving great moments to remember. One of them is undoubtedly the appearance of Dorian Junior in the Equatorial Guinea national team. The young pearl of UP Langreo, on loan from Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, made her debut in a major tournament with her country’s national team in the match on the first day against Ivory Coast.
The Intersoccer Football Academy student enjoyed his second international game after making his debut for Equatorial Guinea in the qualifying phase for the Qatar 2022 World Cup against Mauritania. This time, he started for the first time in his life in an international match. He was substituted in the 64th minute, but not before having generated several scoring chances against one of the favorites to lift the title.
The UP Langreo player from Second RFEF formed a pair in attack with the mythical Emilio Nsue, former RCD Mallorca or CD Castellón among others. He also competed alongside Akapo, Cádiz CF winger; o Ibán Salvador, CF Fuenlabrada player in LaLiga SmartBank. As rivals it had players with a high international profile such as Bailly (Manchester United), Kessié (AC Milan), Sangaré (PSV) or Haller (Ajax).
Dorian has two more group stage matches ahead. The next will be against Algeria, next Sunday, January 16 from 8:00 p.m. The UP Langreo striker points back to the starting position after his great performance against Ivory Coast. It will close the first phase against Sierra Leone, the theoretical “cinderella” of the group that managed to get a gold point from the Algerian team.
Dorian’s growth has been exponential in recent years. Just five years ago he played for a modest club in Fuenlabrada in the penultimate category of Madrid youth soccer. Little by little he has taken steps in his sports career, first signing for the Intersoccer Football Academy. His signing allowed him to compete at a high level in EI San Martín, leading the modest Asturian club to promotion to Second RFEF.
After that, the Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa acquired his services in this summer market and gave him to UP Langreo. In his Second RFEF group, he has scored five goals in 13 starts, leaving a great taste in the mouth of the fans of the Langreo team. The roof of him is still unknown. The Africa Cup is just one more step of the many that the very young Equatorial Guinean forward has to take.