- The team of Sadio Mané and company aspires to get into the last round in search of the first Africa Cup in its history
Burkina Faso and Senegal meet this afternoon at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaoundé for a place in the Africa Cup of Nations grand final that will be played this coming Sunday. The team led by Sadio Mané starts as the great favorite to be in the decisive match against the great revelation of the tournament, a Burkina Faso that wants to prolong her dream to give the crush and get into the grand final. The other semifinal is contested tomorrow by hosts Cameroon and Egypt .
The Teranga Lions , who aspire to lift the first Africa Cup in their history after losing last year’s final against Algeria, dispelled the doubts raised in the group stage (one win and two draws) as soon as the qualifiers started. In the round of 16 they clearly beat Cape Verde (2-0) and in the previous round they eliminated Equatorial Guinea without much trouble (3-1).
Burkina Faso , for whom almost no one was betting to reach the last rounds of the competition, does not give up anything at the gates of the final, an instance that they already stepped on in 2013, when they fell to Nigeria 1-0. In the round of 16 of this edition, Los Colts needed a penalty shootout to beat Gabon and in the quarterfinals they narrowly beat Tunisia (1-0). The bad news for Burkina Faso is that they will be without Lorient Ouattara this afternoon , the scorer in the quarterfinals, who saw a red card eight minutes from time and is suspended.
Aliou Cissé ‘s men rely on the quality of their most important pieces to impose their status as great favorites to be in the grand final. Sadio Mané is the undisputed leader and the differential player of the Leones de Teranga , also very solid in the rearguard, as they have only conceded one goal in the entire tournament thanks to the good work of Sarr, Koulibaly, Diallo and Ciss and Mendy in the goal.
Likely lineups
Burkina Faso-Senegal
Koffi; Kabore, Tapsoba, Ouattara, Yago; Nikiema, Güira, Sangare; Bande, Ouattara, Traore
Coach: Kamou Malo
E. Mendy; Sarr, Koulibaly, Diallo, Ciss; Kayouté, Mendy, Gueye; Diedhiou, Dia, Mane
Coach: Aliou Cissé
Stadium: Ahmadou Ahidjo
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Referee: Joshua Bondo (Botswana)