Captain of the local stallions of Burkina Faso Abubakar Sawadogo has dedicated their African Nations Championship qualification to the victims of the terrorist attack in the capital Ouagadougou last week.
Seventeen people were killed and a dozen injured in a 'terrorist attack' on a restaurant popular with foreigners in Burkina Faso's capital on the eve of the first leg encounter.
According to reports three gunmen arrived at a Turkish restaurant in a pickup truck on Sunday evening and opened fire on customers seated outside.
The goalkeeper of the team who was also the leader of the team indicated they wanted to win for the victims of the unfortunate incident.
“We were very confident that we could come to Ghana and do something despite the 2-2 draw in the first leg. We came in with a strategy to unsettle them in the first half and get a goal, and thankfully we did. Then on, we knew that we had to do all we can to maintain the scoreline to ensure qualification,” Sawadogo said in a post-match interview.
“Ghana came hard at us in the second half and grabbed a goal, but we remained resolute to make sure that we qualified. We want to dedicate this victory to the people of Burkina Faso for all that happened to us last week [terrorist attack in Ouagadougou] . This should heal their wounds and help them to forget their sorrow.”
Burkina Faso qualified at the expense of Ghana who they beat 2-1 in Kumasi to grab the ticket to Kenya 4-3 on aggregate.
By Lukman Evergreen Mumin