CAMEROON and Burkina Faso will meet for the second time at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday night, this time with the bronze medal at stake in Yaounde.
In the opening match of the tournament on 9 January, hosts Cameroon overturned a deficit to win 2-1.
Vincent Aboubakar scored both goals in that encounter and he went on to score four more as the Indomitable Lions looked unstoppable.
However, the hosts were knocked out at the semi-final stage on Thursday after losing on penalties to Egypt.
Burkina Faso also improved after their opening day defeat, but they were outclassed by fellow West Africans Senegal in their semi-final clash on Wednesday.
Now, the Stallions say they are up for a fight to snatch bronze from the hosts and avenge the opening match defeat, as they go for the consolation of a podium finish.
“It is true that we are disappointed following our elimination in the semifinals, but we have to prepare ourselves properly to play this match for third place in the best conditions,” Burkina Faso head coach Kamou Malo told CAFOnline.
“We have to remobilize now. We are physically and mentally ready for play our game.”
Former Chelsea forward Bertrand Traore, who has had a decent tournament, promises that he and his Stallions teammates will go all out for the bronze medal.
“We are obviously down after our elimination, but we have to remobilize to get the bronze medal,” the Aston Villa star said. “At this level of the competition, we feel tired but we will do everything to have a good match and end the tournament on a good note.”
Cameroon head coach Antonio Conceicao admitted that losing in the semi-finals was tough to take but the Lions would contest keenly for bronze.
“The sadness is great especially when we do not achieve our objectives. The players have worked well, and I am proud of them,” the 60-year-old Portuguese said. “It is up to us to learn now and move forward. I give the best of myself to have the best results with this team. We wanted to write history, but it didn’t work out”.
Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana is keen not to leave the AFCON empty-handed and has urged his teammates to fight hard for the bronze medal.
“It’s true that disappointment is great, but that’s life,” the Ajax Amsterdam star said. “We have to regroup to win this third place this Saturday against Burkina Faso. We have to try to forget elimination in the semifinals and think about the future, especially this classification match and the World Cup qualifiers. We have confidence in ourselves, and we must recover quickly.”
