By Velile Mnyandu in Yaoundé, Cameroon
Burkina Faso head coach Kamou Malo says they are not at the 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) to make up the numbers but to also compete and win the title.
Sitting in front of a packed press conference room at the Ahmadou Hindjo stadium, the venue for Wednesday’s all West African AFCON semi-final against neighbours Senegal, Malo also revealed that according to him he has met all the objectives that the Burkinabe Football Federation (BFF) had set for him and now he would like to go a step further.
Like Senegal, Burkina Faso has never won the AFCON title before with the two other teams in the semi-finals, Egypt (7) and Cameroon (5), the most successful football countries on the continent, combined boasting a total of 12 AFCON titles between them.
The current generation of the Stallions team, led by Aston Villa’s Bertrand Traore and Belgian-based goalkeeper Herve Koffi would also like to emulate the 2013 generation which reached the final before losing to the late Stephen “The Big Boss” Keshi’s Nigerian Super Eagles. Malo says the current generation is also hungry for success.
“Do I think that I’ve met my objectives? Yes. Because when I say this, I’m looking at the contract that I have from the federation and what I have been able to achieve here,” responded Malo to the question.
Burkina Faso have had a great run in this tournament after having earlier lost to Cameroon 2-1 in the opening game of this 33rd edition of African football’s crown jewel. But since that loss, Malo’s team have picked up in the tournament registering three victories and a draw and it is justifiable why the 59-year-old feels that the mandate has been reached here in Cameroon.
“As a competitor myself, I think at this level of the competition we should not have set limits, do not worry we have the same objectives as our employers, which is to win the competition.
“We do not just come to the competition, we have the basis which has been set but our employers but furthermore we have also decided that we want to get to the end of the competition,” concluded Malo.
Coming to the tournament, Burkina Faso were ranked outside the top 10 on the continental rankings and amongst the last four, they are seen as the dark horses. And in this tournament where the underdog has wagged its tail, anything is possible.
Kick-off time for the first semi-final is 21:00 (SA Time).
