Burkina Faso buried hatchet, says Put

Burkina Faso coach Paul Put believes his side were ‘ready for revenge’ after they recorded their first Africa Cup of Nations victory in 15 years.

Put’s side romped to a thumping 4-0 win against Ethiopia, despite being reduced to 10 men after goalkeeper Soulama Abdoulaye was sent off in the first half.

The result leaves Burkina Faso top of Group C on four points and coach Put feels they have silenced the critics after a disappointing AFCON campaign last year, when they failed to pick up a single point.

“This is very good for the confidence and I also think the team was ready to revenge because there was a lot of criticism after the last AFCON,” Put said.

“We can say it was a very crazy game. We had it difficult in the first 15 minutes because we had a lot of pressure.

“We didn’t let them play their normal game. I was very happy after the (first) goal, we were relieved and we could play free.

“With 10 players, I think we it did very well. Tactically, the team is very disciplined, we kept two players up in front and we scored another three goals.”

Burkina Faso will face Zambia in their next game with victory securing a place in the knockout stages for the Stallions, while the current AFCON champions could be eliminated.

Put continued: “Everybody wants to prove something and I think we’re on the right track and we’ll try to continue. Now we have to be smart against Zambia.

“I think we have everything in our hands. It would be the same – discipline, collective play and compactness in the pitch.

“With this I think we can qualify (for the quarter-finals) but we need to keep both feet on the ground.”