Burkina Faso’s head coach, Brahima Traore, praised his team’s tenacity as they advanced to the quarterfinals of the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 2-1 win against Cameroon on Sunday.
Burkina Faso trailed the reigning champions 1-0 after 61 minutes but scored two goals in the closing quarter-hour to clinch an automatic spot in the last eight.
“When we conceded the first goal, we just changed our system and tactics to be more attacking. We put pressure on them and scored the two goals. We worked hard and had a good fighting spirit. We went 1-0 down but never gave up. We had confidence in ourselves and I am happy with the desire shown by the players,” said the coach.
Traore said their primary objective is to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, which will need them to defeat Nigeria in the quarterfinals next Thursday in Algiers.
“We had two objectives in this tournament; first to get to the semi-finals and then to fight for the title. We will prepare well for Nigeria to enable us get to the semis and earn the World Cup ticket,” noted the tactician.
Burkina Faso will travel to Algiers, where they are scheduled to play the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria next Thursday.
TotalEnergies U17 AFCON: Traore praises Burkina’s resilience after Cameroon win
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