“Inexperience and Officiating Blunders Caused Our Defeat”, Firmin Sanon.

By Ngome Michael

Burkinabè assistant coach, Firmin Sanon says his team’s lack of experience and refereeing misdemeanors contributed to their 2-1 defeat to Cameroon.

The touchline man who replaced Kouma Malo in his post match reaction said his squad lacked the experience to defend their early 1-0 lead till half time.

“We lacked experience in the team. Because logically, if we had held on to finish the score at 1-0 in the first half, we would have had a chance to win the game”, the gaffer said.

Sanon however accused Algerian referee, Mustapha Ghorbal of being too strict on his team and overlooked fouls from their opponent.

“We were not the only team to commit fouls. That I should signal. Cameroon committed some fouls as well. I would have loved the referee to see an incident where my player was hit, off the ball,” he added.

Firmin Sanon discribed Viccent Aboubarkar’s spot kicks as valid but there were however some incidents that required straight red cards as stipulated by the law but weren’t respected.

The Stallions opened scores through Gustavo Sangaré early in the second half but, two late tackles on Zambo Anguissa and Nouhou Tolo derp in the half saw Aboubakar convert twice from the spot to hand Cameroon the winner.

Burkina Faso and Ethiopia both lost their opening matches of the AFCON and thus sit behind Cameroon and Cape Verde separated on goals scored.