Why Burkina Faso have fond memories of South Africa

Each time Burkina Faso have travelled to South Africa to take on Bafana Bafana‚ they have returned home with their tails between their legs.

But ironically‚ ‘Les Etalons’ still have very fond memories of the country.

It was on South African soil that Burkina Faso - literally translated as the ‘land of the upright men - achieved their best-ever footballing return‚ going all the way to the Africa Cup of Nations final in 2013.

The tournament that South Africa hosted was a disappointment for Bafana‚ who went out at the quarter-finals stage‚ but Burkina were the surprise package as they went all the way to the deciding game‚ losing 1-0 to Stephen Keshi’s Nigeria in the final.

Of the 23 players that competed at that tournament‚ captain Charles Kabore‚ key defender Bakary Kone‚ striker Aristides Bance and Alain Traore and the tricky winger Prejuce Nakoulma all return for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier at Soccer City.

Burkina moved through the 2013 continental tournament with great stealth‚ drawing with group favourites Nigeria and Zambia in Nelspruit and beating Ethiopia 4-0 to finish top of Group C.

They edged Togo after extra time in the quarter-final and‚ although not given much hope‚ beat Ghana on post-match penalties in the semifinal.

It was a match in which Jonathan Pitrioipa‚ who went on to be named as the top player of the tournament‚ was harshly sent off and the Confederation of African Football (Caf) cooked up a ruse whereby they got the errant referee to write a letter admitting he had made a mistake.

CAF then rescinded the red card‚ in an unprecedented bending of the rules‚ to allow Pitroipa to play in the final.

Burkia have played two World Cup qualifiers in South Africa previously‚ losing to Bafana in Rustenburg in 2001 when Shaun Bartlett scored and again in 2004 at Soccer City when Stuart Baxter was coach in his first spell and Bartlett scored again along with Steven Pienaar.

Burkina have also been to Mzansi for two friendly internationals – losing 2-0 at Ellis Park in 2011 and 2-0 again at Soccer City in 2013 when football and rugby shared the same stage in a unique tribute to Nelson Mandela.

Overall South Africa have had eight previous meetings with Burkina‚ winning four‚ drawing three and losing one.