In their second match of the Africa Cup Burkina Faso got their first three points of the tournaments. In a tight match against Cape Verde they managed to win 1-0 and kept their dreams of qualifying for the next round alive. Kamou Malo’s side set up in a 4-3-3 against the Blue Sharks with two controlling midfielders, who moved forward whenever they could, and two offensive fullbacks. It wasn’t a good match from both sides at all, but from time to time Burkina Faso displayed some real quality on the ball with very nice combinations.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, re-watch
- D – Below average in this match
Edmond Tapsoba
Player profile:
- Nationality: Burkinabé
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 02/02/1999
- Club: Bayer Leverkusen
- Career: Salitas (Y), US Ouagadougou (Y), Leixões SC (Y), Vitória Guimarães SC, Bayer Leverkusen
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
The level in the match was quite poor overall, with lots of misplaces passes and bad first touches. Edmond Tapsoba however was one of the only players who looked calm and confident for the full 90 minutes. Tapsoba played as the left sided centre back next to Issoufou Dayo and was arguably the best player on the pitch. Burkina Faso started with a high defensive line, but dropped far back in the second half defending their lead and looking for the counter.
Physically Edmond Tapsoba looked absolutely fantastic. Standing at 6’4” with an athletic build he looks like an absolute nightmare to play against. He also showed good mobility and pace throughout the match. In an earlier report on Tapsoba we wrote that he was bit too rash in his duels, but against Cape Verde he showed great composure defensively. He positioned himself very well, making a few good interceptions and always being able to help out the other defenders. Aerially Tapsoba also looked very strong, winning all of his aerial duels and also heading out a lot of long passes.
On the ball Tapsoba also stood out. Especially his distribution was very strong. He constantly made good forward passes towards either the midfielders or the two wingers. These passes made it hard for Cape Verde to press high and made their midfield look very vulnerable. Burkina Faso was on the other side of the pitch in a matter of two or three passes. Technically Tapsoba also did a fine job. His first touches were almost always great and he looked very composed on the ball looking for his teammates.
Rating – A1
Edmond Tapsoba put in a solid shift and was a big reason why Burkina Faso only conceded two shots on targets against Cape Verde. The 22-year old was by far the best player on the pitch in my eyes. He got some serious competition at Bayer Leverkusen, but could be a very strong centre back in the Bundesliga.
Issa Kaboré
Player profile:
- Nationality: Burkinabé
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 12/05/2001
- Current club: Troyes AC (On loan from Manchester City)
- Career: Rahimo FC, KV Mechelen, Manchester City, KV Mechelen (Loan), Troyes AC (Loan)
- Position: Right Back
- Preferred foot: Right
The 20-year old Issa Kaboré played as right back for the Stallions and was one of their more remarkable players. No other players had as many touches as Kaboré (74) in the game. Kaboré was a constant threat for Cape Verde, pressing high and making a lot of overlapping runs on the right. He got forward a lot more than their left back Yago. Not everything Kaboré did was perfect and there is a lot of room for improvement, but looking at the full 90 minutes he played a very strong match.
Kaboré’s highlight of the match came in the 39th minute when we dribbled the ball forward. He played a good pass to Cyrille Bayala and instantly made an underlapping run. After getting the ball back from Bayala Kaboré put in an amazing cross which Hassane Bandé chested in for the only goal of the game.
As I said Kaboré still had a lot of room to improve. He looked very confident on the ball, but made quite some errors he didn’t have to make and lost the ball too much. He had a couple of poor first touches and misplaced some passes. In build-up he often dribbled forward with the ball. With smart body feints he got away from pressing attackers, but there were a few moments where he took a bit too much risk, resulting in loss of possession. His passing overall was fine, although his longer passes lacked some precision.
Defensively it looked pretty chaotic on the right side at times. Kaboré often pressed too high and then had to track back fast if Cape Verde kept possession. He was out of position quite some time, but always had back up from his teammates. If he managed to recover the ball pressing as high as he did, it instantly became a dangerous situation. In his defensive duels he was a little too wild. He made a couple of unnecessary fouls, where he could’ve been a bit more patient.
Rating – A2
I’ve seen Kaboré a few times last year for KV Mechelen and it looks like he is maturing more as a player. He was still a bit too chaotic at times, but I think that also has to do with the match being quite messy.
Hassane Bandé
Player profile:
- Nationality: Burkinabé
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 30/10/1998
- Current club: NK Istra (On loan from Ajax)
- Career: Salitas, KV Mechelen, Ajax, FC Thun (Loan), NK Istra (Loan
- Position: Left Winger
- Secondary position: Right Winger
- Preferred foot: Right
Hassane Bandé started as Burkina Faso’s left winger, but also played a short bit of the match as striker and right winger. In the 39th minute Bandé scored the only goal of the match. After a fantastic cross from Issa Kaboré, Bandé scored with his chest. Besides his goal Bandé didn’t play a very strong game. Most of Burkina Faso’s came from the right and Bandé only created a few dangerous moments from the left.
He seemed quite fast, but didn’t possess enough pace to easily beat his opponent on the first meters. In the 26th minute he had a big scoring opportunity after he received a good pass from Touré, he used his body very well against Steve Fortes, but couldn’t finish the one on one with goalkeeper Vozinha. He didn’t make that many runs on the left though and when he received the ball whilst standing still he struggled a lot beating his opponent, losing a lot of physical duels.
Rating – B2
Hassane Bandé showed some glimpses off class, but was quite anonymous for big parts of the game.
Abdoul Tapsoba
Player profile:
- Nationality: Burkinabé
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 23/08/2001
- Current club: Standard Liège
- Career: ASEC Mimosas, Standard Liège
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
When I watched Abdoul Tapsoba for Standard he received only five passes that match and I barely any notes on him. This match he received only 1(!) pass. The only good thing I saw him do was when he got the ball in Cape Verde’s box and play a dangerous pass towards the goal, with no teammates there to score. Overall he just didn’t move around enough in my opinion and he got subbed off after 69 minutes.
Rating – D