Ouagadougou: Djoliba Athletic Club of Bamako (Mali) beat the Union Sportive des Forces Armees (USFA) of Burkina Faso by a narrow score of 1 goal to 0 on Sunday evening at the August 4 stadium in Ouagadougou, counting for the second round of the CAF Confederation Cup preliminaries.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the US armed forces held firm until the 85th minute when Kader Kena opened the scoring for Djoliba AC. However, the Burkinabe team was more offensive, with Noufe Sie and Mohamed Diallo as leaders. The Malian defense was able to handle these repeated assaults from the USFA before reorganizing the revolt.
The USFA soldiers will try everything without being able to come back. Burkinabe team coach Amadou Sampo has not yet digested this defeat, which complicates his task next week for the return match.
"We conceded a goal and lost a match at a time when we were playing well. We came into the match timid. Set pieces are mental. We had a lot of them. It's all due to the lack of competition. My players didn't know how to manage their emotions," explained coach Sampo.
But he hopes that his team will "go and get that result in Mali," because for him, "there is room. It's like a punishment because we didn't deserve to lose this match."
His captain Patrick added that "USFA knows how to travel. If Djoliba was able to achieve a result here, USFA can do better in Mali next week."
Djoliba AC coach Mory Boudo said he saw "two good teams on the pitch. We wanted more. We suffered, but it was intentional. We wanted to give the ball to the opponent. It all came down to determination. It paid off at the end of the match. We will work to ensure qualification at home."