Burkina Faso/Congo-Brazzaville: Stallions Clash with Congo-Brazzaville

Fabrice Ondama of Congo celebrates scoring against Burkina Faso at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
25 January 2015

Burkina Faso must put behind them poor performance and reports of player infighting when they clash with Congo-Brazzaville in their final Group A game at the African Nations Cup finals in Ebebiyín on Sunday.

The Burkinabe have arguably been the most disappointing side in the tournament so far this year, having reached the final in South Africa in 2013 and done well in the years between.

An opening 2-0 loss to Gabon was followed by a sterile 0-0 draw with hosts Equatorial Guinea as they look like a side low on confidence and showing little cohesion.

They are the only team yet to score a goal in this year's tournament, despite a healthy 38 shots on goal in their opening two games.

And despite their success in the last tournament, they have only one win in their last 19 group games at Africa's showpiece finals.

But win they must, nothing else will be good enough for Paul Put's side.

And even then they may not be assured of a place in the next round.

If The Stallions claim victory and Gabon beat Equatorial Guinea in the other pool game, then they will go through as pool runners-up. If the result is reversed in that game, Burkina Faso will also advance in second place.

A win coupled with a draw in the other match will leave Burkina Faso, Congo and Gabon all on four points and that will mean a mini-league is created between the three sides based on their head-to-head record against one-another.

And in that instance, the Burkinabe would need to win by two clear goals to move above Congo in the log.

"Our fate now would depend on the outcome of the match between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. We no longer have our destiny in our hands in this competition. It's so sad," captain Charles Kabore told reporters.

Should Burkina Faso advance they will have reached the quarter-finals in consecutive tournaments for the first time in their history.

But in their way are Congo and their wily coach Claude LeRoy, who is at his eighth Nations Cup finals and only once before has failed to reach the Last 8.

He is not just looking at the quarter-finals, but possibly beyond too.

"I love working with this young squad. You can see there is a bright future for them. Our dream is to reach the quarter-finals at least," LeRoy said.

The French coach added there was no way his side would sit back for the draw that would take them through.

"I am a coach that hates draws. I will never prepare my team to go for a draw. We are going to play for a win against Burkina Faso."

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.