Burkina Faso defeat Tunisia again as hero Ouattara turns villain

GARUOA: Dango Ouattara scored on the stroke of half-time as 10-man Burkina Faso completed a hat-trick of Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final victories over Tunisia with a 1-0 win in Garoua on Saturday (Jan 29).

Hero Ouattara turned villain eight minutes from time when a yellow card for elbowing Ali Maaloul was changed to a red after the Botswana referee checked the touchline VAR monitor.

Burkina Faso held on to repeat 1998 and 2017 last-eight triumphs over Tunisia and advance to a semi-finals showdown with Senegal or Equatorial Guinea in Yaounde on Wednesday.

Success for the Stallions came five days after the landlocked west African country was plunged into political uncertainty when President Roch Marc Christian Kabore was ousted in a military coup.

"I'm very emotional. Allow me to dedicate this win to our people who are being tested by current events," said Burkina Faso coach Kamou Malo.

"The Burkinabe people will always stand up, just like the team. We put in the time today and we want to go all the way in this competition."

Earlier, hosts Cameroon beat giant-killers Gambia 2-0 in Douala and await the winners between Egypt and Morocco on Sunday in the other semi-final.

Burkina Faso started with captain and Aston Villa forward Bertrand Traore among 12 substitutes while an injury ruled out vice-captain and central defender Issoufou Dayo.

In the absence of the first and second-choice skippers, long-serving Belgium-based goalkeeper Herve Koffi led a country that came closest to glory in 2013 when finishing runners-up to Nigeria.

After being hard hit recently by a coronavirus outbreak, Tunisia were back to near full strength with regular captain Wahbi Khazri among those returning to the starting line-up.

Despite the presence of