Written By John Mutiso
Sadio Mane will be hoping to fire Senegal back into the Africa Cup of Nations final when they take on Burkina Faso in the semi-finals on Wednesday.Â
Senegal’s hopes of winning a first AFCON title were dashed by Algeria back in 2019 but they are looking to become the first team since Egypt in 2010 to reach successive finals – and this time they will be desperate to go one better and lift the trophy.
The Lions of Teranga are unbeaten in their two previous AFCON meetings with Burkina Faso, though both of those came in the group stage.
However, Burkina Faso have made it to the semi-final for the fourth time in their history and the third time in the past five editions – this despite not even qualifying for the 2019 tournament.
Kamou Malo’s team did well to upset Tunisia in the quarter-finals, though they will be without their goalscorer Dango Ouattara after his red card in the 82nd minute of their 1-0 victory.
Malo said: “I think that at this level of competition, there are no limits. Don’t worry, we all have the same goal, which is to win this trophy.”
Burkina Faso’s hopes of pulling off another upset will rely heavily on keeping Mane at bay who has scored two goals and made seven open-play key passes in the competition.
