At the 2023 AFCON, Burkina Faso was out from the eighth final. Bertrand Traoré and his teammates want to erase this stalemate and do better. Doing better for the Stallions is to go all the way. This is the common goal pursued by the entire Burkinabe team. For their first outing, the team faces Equatorial Guinea, a real test.
Burkina Faso arrives at AFCON 2025 with total confidence. The team has a clear guideline. Moreover, they are on 6 matches in a row without the slightest defeat including a draw (0-0) against Egypt and a victory (3-0) in friendly against Benin. The last defeat of the Etalons dates back to June 2025 during a preparation match against Tunisia (2-0).
Burkina Faso has all its staff. Hervé Koffi in the net, Edmond Tapsoba in central defence, Ibrahim Blati Touré in midfield, Bertrand Traoré, Georgi Minoungou and Dango Ouattara in attack. They are all in great shape and ready to defend the national colors. They want to start with a fanfare against Equatorial Guinea this Wednesday.
In a pre-match press conference, Bertrand Traoré, the captain of the Stallions, set the tone:
"Being selected is a privilege and a pride. The ambitions are clear: we are here for the trophy. If we don’t win it, it will be a failure. We will give ourselves all the means to raise it,"
he said.
Equatorial Guinea, an unpredictable opponent
Equatorial Guinea has become a regular in the African Cup of Nations. It is at its third consecutive participation. In the last edition, the Nzalang Nacional created a sensation by beating (4-0) Ivory Coast. Group A’s exit as leader, the team was stopped in the eighth final by Guinea.
Equatorial Guinea is a difficult team to maneuver. She still counts in her rank Emilio Nsue, top scorer of the 2023 AFCON with 5 goals. She also bets on the defensive qualities of Saul Coco, the player from Torino, the weight as a sentinel of Omar Mascarell, the player from RCD Mallorca. The coach Juan Micha relies on these three key players to form a real collective.
The technician acknowledges that his team does not play in the same championship as Burkina Faso. But, he assures that his players will give everything to hinder the Stallions.
“We know Burkina Faso. It’s a great team. We do not have their level, but we are working to be up to this meeting. We are working on the physical and mental level to be ready,"
he told the media before the meeting.
Join our sports community!
Follow us on social media to never miss real-time sports news.
À propos de l'auteur
Philemon MBALE
Rédacteur sportif
Passionné de sport depuis toujours, partage avec vous les dernières actualités et analyses du monde sportif.