February 6, 2022

It was a story of contrasting fortunes but a thriller in the eyes of the watchers as Camerron completed a rare comeback against Burkina Faso to win the third-place match via penalties.

Antonio Conceiçao, the Indomitable Lions Coach, says his team demonstrated a strength of character in their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) third/fourth place playoff against Burkina Faso.

Cameroon came back from three goals down to beat Burkina Faso on penalties to win bronze following a 3-3 stalemate at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé.

Conceiçao speaking at a post-match news conference noted that in spite of that the team was down by three goals, they showed character to claim the third place.

“We had a first objective which was to play the final but it was decided on details in the semi-final against Egypt.

“Today, we demonstrated the strength of character of this group and we won on penalties,” he said.

The coach also explained his reason for having a much changed lineup with tournament’s leading scorers Vincent Aboubakar and Karl Ekambi starting on the bench.

Ekambi and Aboubakar who were the captain and talisman of the team had to wait until the second half before they were introduced into the game.

Aboubakar was responsible for two of the three goals scored by Cameroon as he increased his overall goal tally to eight in the tournament.

“Barely 48 hours after playing extra time, I couldn’t take any risks with the players and that’s why I reshuffled my team.

“We saw several players play tonight and I’m satisfied with the performance of several players,” he said.

On his part, Bertrand Traoré, the Stallions of Burkina Faso Captain, expressed disappointment over the team’s failure to win their third place playoff.

Traoré who won the man-of-the-match award, blamed the loss on his team mates, saying that it was a result of what he referred to as ‘professional misconduct’ on their part.

Burkina Faso team which had a three-goal lead at the end of the first half, let their goal advantage slip as the hosts completed a comeback and forced the match to penalties.

Cameroon made no mistakes from the spot as they converted all five kicks, while Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim  Toure missed his spot kick as the Indomitable Lions finished third and won bronze in the tournament.

The captain speaking at a post-match news conference noted that the game was theirs to lose, adding that the result had ruined their course.

“I’m very disappointed after this result. We had the game in our hands.

“We were leading 3-0 before being caught a few seconds from the end of the game.

“Its professional misconduct because we had everything to win the game. This result comes to ruin our course,” he said. NAN