By Fredrick Nadulli

With exactly a week already gone in the three-week continental fiesta,some guests are already leaving the party,and inevitably so.Burkina Faso and Gabon have their bags packed,and for the remainder of the showpiece,will have to follow through from home,like the rest.Another six nations shall join them in the next seventy two hours.

FALLEN SOLDIERS

For Burkina Faso,formely known as Upper Volta,the writing was glaringly on the wall since day one.The Stallions were physically in Equatorial Guinea but their minds were thousands of miles away.The body language of Paul Put’s men gave it away.Star midfielder Jonathan Pitroipa never really showed up.The former Rennes man did not come to the party.Aristide Bance and captain Charles Kabore gave their best,and although Bance got a goal in their last outing against Congo,their general perfomance was way below par.

Instead,it was brothers Alain and Bertrand Traore who stood out for them with their high workrate.The pair were the revelations of the tournament for the 1998 hosts.
Gabon were chucked overboard,but they leave the tournament with their heads high.

With exactly a week already gone in the three-week continental fiesta,some guests are already leaving the party,and inevitably so.Burkina Faso and Gabon have their bags packed,and for the remainder of the showpiece,will have to follow through from home,like the rest.Another six nations shall join them in the next seventy two hours.

FALLEN SOLDIERS

For Burkina Faso,formely known as Upper Volta,the writing was glaringly on the wall since day one.The Stallions were physically in Equatorial Guinea but their minds were thousands of miles away.

The body language of Paul Put’s men gave it away.Star midfielder Jonathan Pitroipa never really showed up.The former Rennes man did not come to the party.Aristide Bance and captain Charles Kabore gave their best,and although Bance got a goal in their last outing against Congo,their general perfomance was way below par.
Instead,it was brothers Alain and Bertrand Traore who stood out for them with their high workrate.

The pair were the revelations of the tournament for the 1998 hosts.
Gabon were chucked overboard,but they leave the tournament with their heads high.Their defeat at the hands of Equatorial Guinea was the final nail in their coffin,but they gave the hosts a jittery night they will not forget in a hurry.

Borrusia Dortmund winger Pierre Emerick Aubameyang,as expected,was their lead actor,ably supported by Frederic Bulot Wagha and burly midfielder Levy Madinda.Unlike the Burkinabes,they leave with at least a victory to their name in the group stages.They live to fight another day.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com