We respect Tunisia but aren’t worried about them – Burkina Faso captain Bertrand Traore
Bertrand Traore, who captains the Stallions of Burkina Faso, says though his side respects Tunisia, they aren’t worried about them, ahead of their quarterfinal encounter at the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday.
Tunisia qualified for the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed teams, but went on to beat title favourites, Nigeria, 1-0 in the round of 16 and advance to the quarterfinals. That should give the Carthage Eagles plenty of confidence coming into the quarterfinals.
But Traore, while speaking exclusively with Omasports in Garoua, says they are “never worried” about the North Africans.
“We are never worried. We respect Tunisia. They have big players, good players and they’re a good side. But the thing is we need to focus on ourselves,” the 26-year-old, who plays for English club Aston Villa, said.
“Before every game we speak about the opponent, of course, but the main thing is about ourselves. We need to play our own game, we need to stay focused, try to put everything in our side and try to get the qualification.”
Traore was on the scoresheet in Burkina Faso’s win [7-6 on penalties after 1-1 full-time draw] against Gabon in the round of 16 – it was his 12th goal in 60 appearances since making his debut in September 2011. The 26-year-old has now featured in four editions of the Nations Cup but says that doesn’t make him the most experienced Stallion.
“I can’t say I’m the most experienced player in this team but yeah this is my fourth Afcon – I’m the one with the most Afcon in the team and I’ve played ten years in this team. So I try to bring what I can to this team and try to do my best to help my teammates and together we can achieve big things.”
Burkina Faso were runners-up at the Nations Cup in 2013, after losing to Nigeria in the final. It’s their best result at the continental event till date, but they’ll try to go one better this time.
“This is just the beginning,” Traore said. “I hope together we can go till the end.”
