Appointed on March 11, Brama Traoré has just played his first two friendly matches with the Etalons of Burkina Faso, with contrasting results.In two international friendlies, Burkina Faso have drawn one and lost one.
With just a few months to go before Matchday 3 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the performance of Burkina Faso's national soccer team has not gone down well in the Land of the Integral Men. The Etalons, who just completed their training camp in Morocco on Tuesday, put in worrying performances against Libya and Niger. The Burkinabe team recorded one draw and one defeat during the international break.Brama Traoré's men were beaten 2-1 by Libya and held 1-1 by Niger. Burkina drew with Niger thanks to a goal from central defender Nasser Djiga. An indicator that leads fans and observers alike to ask questions about the team's attacking efficiency.
Offensive efficiency a headache for Brama Traoré
Coach Brama Traoré admitted as much in his post-match statement. It's the finishing that still needs to be perfected. But I think we'll work hard to correct it, because that's our guilty pleasure, creating chances and not being able to put them away," he asserted.
For Stallions fan Akbar Barry, these two preparatory matches have enabled Brama Traoré to experiment with new tactical schemes, but nothing has changed offensively: "Nothing has changed. It's been the same problems since Kamou Malo through to Hubert Velud. The eternal problem of finishing and set-pieces. Niger even played better than us. They weren't in a hurry, but they're the ones who are really rebuilding. And it's a lesson for the federation who thought that with Libya and Niger, they were going to fill the tank and say they'd found the right man for the job, which is Brama Traoré. That's not knowing soccer very well," he said.
"Brama Traoré is not the right man for the job".
Apart from the midfield concerns, the defensive sector is undoubtedly one of the areas that must preoccupy the Stallions' new coach in the final stretch leading up to the match against Egypt on Day 3 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. This instability is not to the liking of Komba Abdoulaye, who can't understand why Burkina Faso's Stallions haven't managed to keep their goal intact in two games."I said in one of my analyses in the neighborhood with my friends that Brama Traoré is not the man for the job. Defensively, it's disappointing. The same mistakes continue. They've conceded 3 goals in 2 games.It's very dangerous. If nothing is done, we'll see the World Cup, but never qualification.
Fans very satisfied with the team's performance
Some fans of the Burkina Faso national team were delighted with the results, and especially with the performance of the national team players, including Brama Traoré, who was making his debut. The performance against Libya, despite the defeat, and the draw against Niger have dispelled the doubts of some supporters, who are now more confident ahead of Burkina's next two decisive matches against Egypt and Sierra Leone in June."The game was great. Let's keep working. We'll be fine. It's been a long time since we've seen such good, fluid play. The team can play good soccer. It's true that it's a draw and a defeat, but I'm satisfied with the way the youngsters played. They'll come back strong. With the right concentration and determination, we'll be all right. Good luck to the team," said Zakaria Gaygo.
Leaders to recover
The absence of captain Bertrand Traoré and his two deputies, Issoufou Dayo and Hervé Koffi, as well as other players, was cruelly obvious. Among the players selected for these two friendlies, no one rose to the occasion to try and reverse the trend.Ismo Nikiema: "Tell the coach that analyses here and there won't help. Brama Traoré needs to call up the other members of the national team. That's going to help him a lot in the upcoming matches, otherwise he runs the risk of only drawing and losing. Soccer is about teamwork. Brama needs to bring all the players together and he'll get good results. Libya and Niger are not real test matches for me, they're a failure".
For Dani Sanou: "Brama Traoré got off to a bad start with his rhetoric against the old players, who are the core of the team. He'd better get his act together as quickly as possible so that the Stallions' fans can smile again. The return of the other key players is very important. Experience is essential to the success of a project".
In anticipation of his first official match with the Burkina Faso Stallions against the Egyptian national team on June 3, 2024, as part of the third day of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Brama Traoré is facing a grumbling fan base.
