When four-time champions are playing they normally, as in this case, get the nod. Burkina Faso and Cameroon will go head to head in the second match of the tournament.Cameroon have underachieved of late and haven’t won the tournament since 2002 in Mali.
A new generation full of youngsters and a sprinkle of experienced legs will look to put the ghosts of years past to rest. Burkina Faso were in the final in 2013 but lost the trophy to Nigeria in a pulsating final where a Sunday Mba solitary strike made the difference between the two sides.
Team News
Cameroon – was hit with a spate of withdrawals before the final 23-man list was submitted to Caf. Seven players on the initial 35-man provisional squad pulled out citing different reasons. Place your Naijabet.com
Liverpool defender Joel Matip, West Brom’s Nyom, Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper Andre Onana, Andre Zambo Anguissa from Olympique Marseille, Guy Roland NdyAssembe of Nancy, Maxime Poundje of Bordeaux and Ibrahim Amadou from Lille all withdrew from the team.
It got worse when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting retired from international football. However, that disappointment might turn out to be a blessing as it has given other players an opportunity to show what they can do.
Burkina Faso – have no such issues and will be hoping to go one further than they did in 2013 when they reached the final. Now coached by the Portuguese Paulo Jorge Duarte, the Stallions will launch another assault on the Afcon title with almost the same squad from four years ago.
Veteran striker Aristide Bance will once again lead the line for the Etalons who come into the tournament with a blend of youth and experience. Bakary Kone will be the main man in defence while Charles Kabore will provide steel in the middle with the exciting Bertrand Traore pulling the strings to feed Bance and Diawara up front.
Match Facts
Burkina Faso loses 4 matches and draw 1 against Cameroon.
Cameroon have won 4, draw 1 out of 5 matches against Burkina Faso
As at this post Leicester City has 5.96 odd to win the match on NaijaBet while Chelsea has 1.60 odd to win the match also, while the odd to draw the match is 4.05