Korhogo: The coach of the Stallions of Burkina Faso Hubert Velud declared Monday at a pre-match press conference against the Eagles of Mali in Korhogo (for the 8th finals ), that his team has great ambitions to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 34th edition of CAN Côte d'Ivoire 2023, we noted. 'We had a week ahead of us to recover well and work. Today our indicators are green. Everyone is present except Guira who unfortunately left us. But we are ready physically and tactically even if we have not yet chosen a game system with which we are going to play, but at least we have worked on several things', located coach Velud on the state of form of his team. He continued that 'we are in a phase where everyone is happy. The team's mentality is good and I hope we will do good things. We have a great desire to seek this qualification. We have a great desire to progress in this CAN.' The French technician is still cautious in front of this Mali team which finished first in the group match. 'With Mali it is an important balance of power. Coach Chelle from Mali has been on the right track since taking charge of the team. Mali is like Burkina, nations that are on the rise,' he says, reassuring that 'we are ready, we have our arguments.' 'The match against Angola was useful' The French technician of the Etalons Hubert Velud said that he benefited a lot from the match against Angola which he lost (0-2), to make a certain number of adjustments. 'Our advantage and our strength also for tomorrow's match is the great experience of our players. Even if the squad has been renewed, we have a large majority of players who know these matches. For me it's more important than the coach's speech,' Velud said. For him, 'the match against Angola was very useful to us. We were able to extend the playing time of certain players. We were able to give some breathing space to some who needed to breathe.' One of the team's most experienced players, Steeve Yago adds that 'we are totally focused'. He meant that some retired Stallions a re still at their side to pass on their experience to them. 'We are lucky to have our alumni with us. For the most part, they gave us advice. They have always been in contact with the group. All the players dreamed of this finale. We know we still have 7 places to go,' he said. Players are aware that these matches are direct elimination and caution will be required. 'We are no longer in the group stage matches where we could afford to lose a match. There we are totally focused. We know very well that with a mistake we can miss out. We are going to take advantage of our experience that we had in the CAN,' said Steeve Yago. This West African derby between Mali and Burkina Faso, two neighboring countries, will be played tomorrow Tuesday January 30 at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly stadium in Korhogo from 5 pm UT. In the last 5 confrontations between the two teams, Mali has won 4 matches and drawn one. Source: Burkina Information Agency
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