AFCON 2017: Tunisia, Burkina Faso lock horns on familiar terrain

Burkina Faso will face Tunisia in the first quarterfinal game of the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon.

The match will hold in Libreville where Burkina Faso has already played two games in the championship.

Tunisia is also familiar with the stadium, having thrashed Zimbabwe 4-0 there during the group games.

In its nine appearances at the African Cup of Nations, Burkina Faso’s best performance was in 2013 during a losing final appearance against the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

Burkina Faso’s first ever appearance at the African Nations Cup was in 1978.

Tunisia, on the other hand, have been champions of Africa just once, winning the tournament in 2004 when they hosted.

They debuted at the 1962 Nations Cup and this is their 16th appearance.

Even for bookmakers, the clash is difficult to predict but many pundits are leaning towards Tunisia.

It will do Burkina Faso a lot of good to score first. That way, they can put Tunisia on edge and make them dig deep for a response.

Burkina Faso will rely heavily on its star players, Charles Kabore, who will preside in midfield, and Bertrand Traore, the on-loan Chelsea player who will cause a lot of problems for Tunisia.

But will Tunisia’s Wahbi Khazri, who is having a very solid Nations cup be able to neutralise him? Time will tell.

Tunisia made known its intention to go far from the start of the tournament, playing a very fast pressing game. Besides being a compact team, the Tunisian team is banging in goals.

Unlike Tunisia, Burkina Faso has not had the strongest of starts, but now, they have it all to do in the quarterfinals.