Facing a Gabon team, however reduced to ten in the 67th minute following the expulsion of Sidney Obissa, the Stallions suffered before winning.
However, it was the Burkinabès who opened the scoring through Bertrand Traoré in the 28th minute of play after missing a penalty. But despite a clear domination, which increased after the expulsion, Burkina Faso saw Gabon equalize in stoppage time thanks to an own goal from Adama Guira.
In extra time, the Stallions believed to hold the victory but the goal of Abdoul Tapsoba was canceled for an offside position. It was finally at the end of a dantesque penalty shootout won 7 shots to 6 that Burkina Faso validated their ticket for the next round.
A happy and relieved team
Kamou Malo
At the end of this completely crazy match, where the referee will have distributed 14 yellow cards, Kamou Malo, the coach of the Stallions, did not fail to return to the emotional charge of this kind of meeting.
“The meeting was crazy and it was not easy to manage emotions… We had the opportunity to kill the game long before, but that’s football and anything can happen in football. We could have lost before the penalties and we would have cried foul. So when you play football you have to expect these kinds of emotions.” said the coach at a press conference.
The quarter-final between Burkina Faso and Tunisia will take place this Saturday at 7 p.m. UT in Garoua.
Tunisia surprises Nigeria
Tunisian players celebrate the only goal of the game
With three wins from three games in the group stage, Nigeria were the only team to have a clear round in this competition. It is therefore as favorites that the Super Eagles faced Tunisia last night in Garoua.
But nothing went as planned for the Nigerians, especially in the second half since when they returned from the locker room, Tunisia opened the scoring with a strike from Youssef Msakni that Ma-du-ka O-ko-ya n couldn’t grasp firmly.
About ten minutes later, Nigeria suffered another blow with the expulsion of Alex Iwobi who had just come on. Reduced to ten, the Nigerians could not do much against to a very well organized team from Tunisia.
“These are tough matches so everyone is trying to play it safe. Tunisia took their time, then early in the second half they sped up to score once. Then they regrouped. This is the kind of team we need to improve against“said Nigeria coach Augustin Eguavoen.
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