Article by Alexandru Tomuțiu – Published Friday, December 26, 2025, 11:12 / Updated Friday, December 26, 2025 11:14
Burkina Faso's national team beat Equatorial Guinea 2:1 in the first match of Group E at the Africa Cup of Nations. The match was marked by the incredible life story of a player.
Equatorial Guinea led 1-0 until the 95th minute thanks to Marvin Anieboh's goal, but Burkina Faso managed to turn the score around with goals in the 95th and 98th minutes. First, Georgia Minoungou equalized and then Edmond Tapsoba scored the winning goal, sparking a huge celebration.
Georgi Minoungou sees with one eye
This match has written an incredible sports story, as 23-year-old Minoungou is a footballer who only sees with one eye! In 2022, he transferred from the Czech second league to Seattle's second team in the United States of America. After a year and a half, he was promoted to the MLS first team and went to training camp in Marbella, but that trip turned into a real nightmare.
After only a few practices, his eye began to swell due to an infection. Although he didn't think it was anything serious at first, his condition suddenly worsened!
“It turned black, then red. After two weeks, it was completely white. Not even an emergency operation could save my left eye, because the nerves were completely dead,” said Georgi Minoungou, according to sportal.rs.
The doctors told him that he was done with football, but he didn't accept it
The doctors informed him that he would never be able to play football again, but he did not want to come to terms with this idea. He asked the club to allow him to continue training.
“I told them – if I'm good, I continue. If not, I stop. And I was good… I trained more intensively than ever. I couldn't see everything anymore, but I could feel the game. I could read it. I adapted. It's incredible what the brain can achieve. Sometimes I don't see the defender at all – I feel him. Then I simply go in another direction. Instinct, vision of the game, sense – they all intertwine”, said Georgi Minoungou.
The national team of Burkina Faso, for which he plays despite being born and raised in the Ivory Coast, is now surely happy that their football hero has been discovered in faraway America.
Georgi Minoungou beat Messi and Suarez
The African Cup of Nations goal is his third for the national team, having previously scored twice in a friendly against Benin.
Although he was born in Ivory Coast and played for its U20 national team, he accepted Burkina Faso's invitation.
In his career, he won the League Cup with Seattle, and in the final his team defeated Inter Miami, whose stars are Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. Georgi Minoungou plays as a right winger and is priced at €800,000, according to transfermarkt.com.
