Stallions in fierce mood

Burkina Faso's fans have brought much colour to Mali Burkina Faso are expecting a fight to the death in Wednesday's Group B decider against Ghana. "It's going to be war," says striker Alassane Ouedraogo of the match that the Stallions must win to stay in the tournament.

"We either win or lose this game because a draw will eliminate us from the competition," he stated. Burkina Faso are no longer the team you beat 4-0 or 5-0

Alassane Ouedraogo "And since we don't want to go home so early, we have to do our maximum to win." They may have only one point so far, but Ouedraogo believes that, after holding South Africa and only losing to Morocco in the last minutes, Burkina Faso can make it through.

"I have never considered us the underdogs in this group," said the FC Cologne player.

"Like the other teams, we can also boast good players who are playing at clubs in Europe," he pointed out.

"Oumar Barro has established himself in Denmark with Brondby, Dagano (Beli Moumouni) is doing well with Genk in Belgium and Mamadou Tall has grown in confidence since moving to Turkey."

"Burkina Faso are no longer the team you beat 4-0 or 5-0. We have made steady progress since we reached the semi-finals of the Nations Cup in 1998."

He added an important aspect of the team's hope was 17-year-old midfielder Mady Panandetiguiri, who performed very well against Morocco.

"The boy has a very big heart," enthused Ouedraogo.

"Against Morocco he showed he could take on additional responsibilities and even though he was playing as a midfielder he was often around the goal area of the other team."