Burkina Faso earn their first points of the tournament by beating Cape Verde

Hassane Bande hit the ball home six minutes before the break to give Burkina Faso a 1-0 victory over the Cape Verde Islands at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon on Thursday.

Bande stuck out his chest to steer a cross from Isaa Kabore and secure a first Group A victory for his country, which lost its opening match against hosts Cameroon on Sunday.

Burkina Faso moved up to the level of their opponents by three points in the table, three behind Cameroon who beat Ethiopia 4-1 in the previous Group A match at Olembe Stadium.

Bande was included in the lineup to replace Bertrand Traore, who tested positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the match

The Aston Villa striker was one of four players forced into quarantine, although Burkinabe got his coach Kamou Malo back from isolation after missing Sunday’s premiere.

Burkina showed more attack intention in another 1-0 result, the tenth in 14 matches in the tournament.

Cape Verde rarely threatened, even after developing Ryan Mendes as a substitute in the second half in the first appearance for their star player, who had been injured and was not expected to be involved.

Julio Tavares had his best chance but was denied by a good save from Burkina Faso’s goalkeeper Herve Koffi.

Cape Verde have also been hit hard by Covid-19 infections, and their coach Bubista has not yet arrived for the tournament in Cameroon.

(REUTERS)