Burkina Faso coach: Bring On the Golden Eaglets!
Traore praises his boys' resilience after Cameroon win, ready for Nigeria
Burkina Faso’s head coach Brahima Traore says he and his boys will be ready for the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria who they face in the quarterfinal of the ongoing U17 Africa Nations Cup in Algeria.
The Burkinables edged defending champion, Cameroun to pick the second group ticket and qualify for the quarterfinals.
They trailed 1-0 against the defending champions after 61 minutes, but scored two goals within two minutes in the final quarter of an hour to earn an automatic slot in the last eight.
Traore says their primary target remains clinching a ticket to the FIFA World Cup, and this will require them to beat Nigeria on 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 now move from Annaba to Algiers, where they are scheduled to play the Golden Eaglets next Thursday.
Traore lauded his boys’ resilience in the victory over Cameroun.
‘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 at the post match media conference.
