Guinea skipper Kamil Zayatte said they prayed before the draw and believed God heard their prayers as the Syli Nationale will now face Ghana in Sunday's quarter-final in Malabo.
“We were waiting for it but we didn’t believe in it. We already struggled so much during the qualifiers. And here, we hold Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Mali and we are told that it will all be down to a draw of lots,” Zayette recalled.
“Before the outcome, we all prayed together and I believe God hear us. God didn’t let us down, he has always been with us and he showed it today.”
Guinea defender Baissama Sankoh said it was crucial for his country to stay on in this competition despite the Ebola Virus Disease that has ravaged their country for more than a year.
“I am happy we made it through. It was important to show all the African teams that we are here, that Guinea are here despite Ebola,” he said.
“We always fought and today it is for the Guinean people that we qualify.
“It has been a short night. We didn’t sleep a lot. We thought about the qualification, we thought about the draw of lots and it was not easy at all.
“Thanks to God, we qualified for the next round. We need to be very focused against Ghana.”