Cameroon coach Antonio Conceiçao has acknowledged the sadness in the Cameroon camp after their defeat to Egypt ahead but was pleased and proud of his players.

Conceiçao’s side missed three penalty kicks during the shootout as the Pharaohs of Egypt book a place in the final on Thursday. 

However, Cameroon beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in the opener of the tournament at the Stade d’Olembé, Yaoundé, and both nations will lock horns again this Saturday for a place on the podium of the 33rd edition of TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021.

“The sadness is great, especially when we do not achieve our objectives,” Antonio Conceiçao told the media.

He noted, “The players have worked well, and I am proud of them. It is up to us to learn now and move forward. I give the best of myself to have the best results with this team. We wanted to write history, but it didn’t work out.”

Cameroon’s keeper André Onana toed the line of his coach, noting their disappointment as he urged for his side to regroup.

“Disappointment is indeed great, but that’s life. We have to regroup to win this third place this Saturday against Burkina Faso. We have to try to forget elimination in the semifinals and think about the future, especially this classification match and the World Cup qualifiers. We have confidence in ourselves, and we must recover quickly,”

Burkina Faso Coach Kamou Malo is focused on the job at hand as they look to end the tournament on a good footing. 

“We are indeed disappointed following our elimination in the semifinals, but we have to prepare ourselves properly to play this match for third place in the best conditions. We have to remobilize now. We are physically and mentally ready to play our game.”

Stars player Bertrand Traore (Captain, Burkina Faso)

“We are obviously down after our elimination, but we have to remobilize to get the bronze medal. At this level of the competition, we feel tired, but we will do everything to have a good match and end the tournament on a good note.”

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