Wear the colors of a country in chaos, and do it with talent and courage despite the ongoing tragedy 1,500 kilometers away. Here is more or less the strange feeling that has gripped the selection of Burkina Faso since Sunday evening. On the phone, Hervé Koffi savors having been in Limbé one of the heroes of the qualification for the quarter-finals of the CAN. By making a decisive save during the penalty shootout, he more than participated in the victory once morest Gabon (1-1, 7-6 on pens). Once back in the locker room, like the others, he immediately grabbed his phone to check that “the people were celebrating”. “If it can motivate them to stop all this…”, he breathes.
For several days, the sporting epic of the internationals has indeed been relegated to the background by serious political incidents. Burkina Faso is hit by multiple acts of mutiny. Several barracks in the capital Ouagadougou and elsewhere are facing violence from soldiers who believe they are the only ones capable of restoring order in the face of the multiplication of jihadist attacks since 2015. Political institutions are wavering to the point that this Monday evening , soldiers in uniform announced on public television that they had seized power by committing to a “return to a constitutional order” within “a reasonable time”.
All these events, the players of the national football team follow almost in real time. Ignore ? Questioned before the declaration of the putschists, the defender Steeve Yago recognizes that it is impossible to achieve this permanently as the confusion is great. “We have messages from our families telling us to stay focused, that we have to try to bring emotion and joy to people, but it’s complicated. We felt following the match that something serious is happening in the country. “Getting news from his relatives is inevitably the only solution not to” panic “, continues the former Toulouse.
Reach the final as in 2013 to “appease the hearts of Burkinabés”
The very young group of Kamou Malo has not been spared since the start of the tournament. Beyond the simmering political violence, cases of Covid-19 have marred the entry into the running of the selection once morest Cameroon. But this inaugural defeat did not undermine the confidence of the Stallions who managed to clinch second place in the group in pain. On Saturday, the teammates of captain Bertrand Traoré will face Tunisia, a major challenge given the solidity displayed by the Carthage Eagles once morest Nigeria (0-1).
Hervé Koffi has his two sisters and his parents in the country, in Bobo-Dioulasso more precisely, the second city of the State. Our last question does not destabilize him: “If we win this CAN, we bring joy to the hearts of our supporters. And they may say to themselves that we must lay down our arms, forget all that and live together”. Reaching the final as in 2013 and why not winning a first continental title might “change things”, assumes the 25-year-old goalkeeper, full of ambition. “Of course it gives us extra soul to have good results and soothe the hearts of Burkinabés”. The words of a man on a mission.