Aboutaball :: About World Football

They may rank as outsiders for overall honours at the 2010 African Cup of Nations, but don’t write The Stallions off just yet. They can boast the joint top scorer from World Cup qualifying anywhere in the world, and have never been ranked so high in the FIFA Rankings.

It’s been quite a transformation for Burkina Faso; while other West African counterparts such as Cameroon and the Ivory Coast enjoy much of the current glory, Burkina Faso are fast catching up. Although many of the team are far from household names, even in their own country, the team is comprised almost entirely of players plying their trade in Europe. Furthermore it also contains a core of players from the U-20 side that went to the FIFA Youth Championships in 2003 under the guidance of current Mozambique coach Mart Nooij; the first time a side at this age-range achieved that feat.

A Bumpy Ride

Much of the credit must go to Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte, who took over with Burkina Faso at a low ebb back in 2008, when it appeared that much of the momentum of five consecutive participations at the African Cup of Nations had been squandered. The highlight of that run was a creditable fourth place, which came in 1998 on home turf, when they beat Tunisia in the quarter-finals, who would later that year play at the World Cup, before bravely losing to eventual winners Egypt in the semi-finals.

However, by the time the former Uniao Leiria boss took over at the helm of Burkina Faso they had slumped to a 14-year low of 117th in the FIFA rankings, the lowest position since occupying the 123rd position back in 1993. Results since Duarte’s appointment have picked up noticeably, and the current 49th place in the FIFA table, which translates into the eighth best in Africa, is testament to the significant upturn in fortunes.

Duarte’s reign started in the best possible fashion in first phase qualifying, which doubled up as qualification for this tournament and the World Cup, with a shock win away at top-seeds Tunisia thanks to two late goals. With some confidence restored, the Stallions went on a wonderful unbeaten run imposing themselves on the group to claim first spot with an impressive 16 points from a possible 18, a record only the Ivory Coast could top.

In the much harder second phase qualification, Burkina Faso ran up against the Ivory Coast and although defeats to them both home and away ended any dreams of shock participation at the World Cup, getting through to the 2010 African Cup of Nations is an excellent achievement. This is even more so, when one contrasts this performance with their shambolic attempt to make it through to the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which ended with them finishing bottom of a group that contained both Mozambique and Tanzania, and a final match-day 5-1 hammering at the hands of Senegal.

Aiming for more

The marked improvement in Burkina Faso’s fortunes hasn’t gone entirely unnoticed when French Ligue 1 side Le Mans appointed Duarte as coach. However, Duarte wisely retained his role as coach of the Stallions, and following his dismissal in France in December is now free to concentrate entirely on Burkina Faso.

Although Burkina Faso will be pleased to be at the 2010 African Cup of Nations, they will be intending to improve on their recent record at the tournament. Since their fourth place finish back in 1998, they have failed at the group stage on the following three occasions, finishing bottom of their section with just one draw to show for each of their attempts. Although drawn into a tough group, Burkina Faso will be hoping to snatch at least one win out of their three games, and continue their upward trend.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Daouda Diakite (Mokawloon-Arab), Germain Sanou (Centre Saint-Etienne), Adama Sawadogo (Faso-Yennega)

Defenders: Ibrahim Gnanou (Alania Vladikavkaz), Bakary Kone (Guingamp), Paul Keba Koulibaly (Al-Ittihad), Moussa Ouattara (Kaiserslautern), Saidou Panandetiguiri (Uniao Leiria), Mamadou Tall (Uniao Leiria)

Midfielders: Charles Kabore (Marseille), Mahamoudou Kere (Charleroi), Mohamed Koffi (Petrojet), Abdoul Aziz Nikiema (Qingdao Jonoon), Jonathan Pitroipa (Hamburg), Florent Rouamba (Sheriff Tiraspol), Alain Traore (Auxerre)

Attackers: Habib Bamogo (Nice), Aristide Bance (Mainz), Moumouni Dagano (Al-Khor), Yssouf Kone (Cluj), Issouf Ouattara (Uniao Leiria), Narcisse Yameogo (Mughan), Patrick Zoundi (Fortuna Dusseldorf)

Players to Watch

Many scouts will be watching out for Moumouni Dagano, the joint top-scorer in World Cup qualifying from any region with 12 goals. The 29-year-old has enjoyed spells in Belgium and France, and is now in the Qatari league with Al-Khor, where he notched 10 goals in 25 matches last season. Nevertheless it’s his record in World Cup qualifying that has really brought him to wider attention and although seven of his 12 strikes came against relative minnows Burundi and the Seychelles, there will be plenty of focus on him to see whether he can recreate that form at the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

Key to helping Dagano will be the service from the like of Jonathan Pitroipa. The Hamburg midfielder has forced his way into the first team reckoning at the Nordbank Arena since the arrival of Bruno Labaddia in the summer. With a keen eye for goal from a slightly deeper position, as well as capable of delivering some delicious through balls, Pitropia will be a key member of this Burkina Faso squad.

Fixtures

11th Jan – Ivory Coast

15th Jan – Togo

19th Jan – Ghana

Prediction

With their conquerors from qualification the Ivory Coast and heavyweights Ghana drawn alongside them in Group B, making the quarter-finals would realistically represent an overly ambitious target. If they can avoid a heavy defeat in their first game against the Ivory Coast, follow that up with a win against Togo, and hope the Ivory Coast also beat Ghana, that would still leave them in with a shout of reaching the quarter-finals in their last clash. Whilst it would still be a long-shot, just being in a position to pull off such a shock would be an illustration of the improvement Burkina Faso have undergone.