Angola-Burkina Faso: Fierce battle for top finish in Group D
A fierce battle will ensue on Tuesday evening at the Charles Konan Banny stadium, in Yamoussoukro in one of the final round of fixtures for Group D to decide the outcome for a place in the round of 16 of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations TotalEnergies, Cote d’ivoire 2023.
Angola take on Burkina Faso in what promises to be an action packed clash, with both teams tied on 4 points ahead of Algeria and Mauritania who meet in a simultaneous fixture.
Angola drew 1-1 with Algeria in their first match before a thrilling 3-2 victory over Mauritania in their second.
The Stallions on the other hand edged Mauritania 1-0 before playing out to an evenly balanced 2-2 draw against Algeria in their second.
This is what the coaches and players had to say ahead of the clash:
Pedro Gonçalves - Angola coach
“We have to stay focused on the game in order to achieve our goals. The Burkina Faso match is important, and we are looking for a positive result, we are able to qualify for the next round and we must remain competitive. We have watched the Burkina Faso matches, we will face a good team, we respect the Burkinabe team which has shown good performances and results since 2013. We are currently in first place, and we are here to represent Angola, we have the same motivation to approach the Burkina Faso match, the players are focused and motivated to play this game”.
Jonathan Buatu Mananga - Angola defender
“I am playing the second African Cup of Nations of my career against Burkina Faso, we will play with the intention of winning. Burkina Faso has potential and we have also proven that we have potential. We will approach match after match in order to go as far as possible in this competition. We were not favorites in our group, and now, before the last match of the group stage, we are in the lead, we will continue in the same way”.
Hubert Velud - Burkina Faso coach
“We will do everything possible to be at the top of our group. We are aware of the difficulty we are going to have, but we have to win, so we will do everything we can. Angola have a good team but we have to find a way to be above their level. We are not going to find any excuses. We are going to win this match. We have players who have returned from injury, and as we progress in this competition, players will get more playing time”.