Burkina Faso forward Souleymane Alio has lauded the team's resilience and never say die attitude, as they came from a goal down to beat Cameroon 2-1 and progress to the quarter finals of the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria.
Alio, duly named man of the match after his brace in two minutes completed the turnaround for the Burkinabes, said they had to dig deep to clinch victory against a tough Cameroonian side.
"We never gave up. We gave everything until the end and we were rewarded. Cameroon is a great team and it was not easy to beat them. We fought, and in the end, we earned the victory," Alio said after the game.
On his man of the match award, he was equally elated.
"I am delighted to be named man of the match, but this was collective effort and I thank my teammates. We fought together and this award is for them," he added.
Burkina Faso needed to win the match, or in the least draw, to make it to the quarter finals automatically.
The team will now shift their attention to the last eight, and they have been lined up to face fellow West African side Nigeria, in Thursday's match in Algiers.
Alio says their ambition is to win the match and earn a ticket to the FIFA World Cup, which was one of their pre-tournament targets.