Crucial AFCON 2019 games looming for Zebras

Zebras to face Burkina Faso twice in the space of three days

BONGANI MALUNGA

Botswana’s AFCON 2019 Qualification campaign could be defined by their upcoming back to back games against 2013 AFCON finalists Burkina Faso. The Zebras will lock horns with the West African side twice in the space of three days, they will travel to Ouagadougou on October 13th before hosting their opponents at the Francistown Sports Complex on October 16 (7pm kick-off).
Zebras have yet to pick up a point in Group I, having lost their opening two games against Mauritania and Angola. The Major David Bright led team is yet to score in the 2019 qualification stage, they are the only team in the Group yet to register a goal.
Burkina Faso are only three points ahead of Botswana, they have experienced an indifferent start to their AFCON 2019 Qualification campaign, they comfortably won their first game (3-1) against Angola and lost 2-0 in their second game against Mauritania.
Hosting the game at the Francistown Sports Complex could be a good omen for the home team, it is the same venue in which they once defeated Burkina Faso 1-0 in 2015 courtesy of a Joel Mogorosi goal. This was the first ever game to be played at the Francistown arena, many believed that it would prove to be Botswana’s happy hunting ground and this belief lived up to expectations for a while.
However, the Francistown Sports Complex is no longer the fortress it was for the Zebras, they suffered their first defeat at the hands of Uganda on June 4, 2016 in the 2017 AFCON Qualifiers. Their next defeat at the stadium was against Mauritania on June 10, 2017 in the 2019 AFCON Qualifiers, their last two official games at the stadium have ended in defeat.
Interestingly Botswana and Burkina Faso have an equal head to head record against each other, the sides have faced off four times with two wins each. Their first meeting was a 1-0 win for Botswana as they defeated the West Africans in a friendly game, in 2015 they clashed again in another friendly as Burkina Faso won 2-0.
The third meeting was the aforementioned 1-0 win for Zebras in Francistown in 2015 while the fourth game between them saw the Stallions win 2-1 at home courtesy of goals from Prejuce Nakoulma and Banou Diawara while Thabang Sesinyi replied for the Zebras.