FC Dallas’ new addition, Nanu, had been looking for some offseason minutes at the African Cup of Nations but came up short as Guinea-Bissau bowed out of the competition on Wednesday.
The former Porto full back tested positive for COVID-19 on January 7 and thus had to miss the Djurtus’ goalless draw with Sudan that ultimately cost his side a place in the Round of 16. Monaco midfielder Pele saw his penalty saved in the second half of the opening fixture before Piqueti smashed the rebound off the crossbar.
Covid-19 cases in Guinea-Bissau camp rose to the point where five players and the head coach sat out as Mo Salah scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win for Egypt. VAR called back a spectacular would-be equalizer by Mama Balde for a foul in the build-up to deny an unlikely point.
Although all six returned on Wednesday for a 2-0 defeat by Nigeria, Nanu remained on the bench for the final group game.
Nanu is expected to join up with his new FC Dallas teammates shortly, although FCD did not have a timeline for his preseason participation at the time of writing.