The Stallions of Burkina Faso have had an incredible AFCON 2021 campaign.

By Lawrence Mangenje

They are 90 minutes away from booking a place in the final of the continental showpiece, set for Sunday.

For a team that lost its opening match against hosts Cameroon, every football-loving Burkinabe ought to be proud of it.

The man behind the team’s success, is 59-year old coach, Kamou Malo.

Malo is former police commissioner in the West Africa country and it seems his virtues have followed him to the Burkinabe dugout.

Unlike many coaches in Africa, who see European star players as indispensable, Malo does not operate that way.

Aston Villa star Bertrand Traore, who is the Stallions captain, is not even a guaranteed starter in the side.

“No one is indispensable in my team. Our team is not dependant on one player, we play as a unit and as a team. Bertrand’s qualities will be helpful and we should stop giving a team a particular image of a person,” said the gutsy Malo.

True to Mola’s words, the Stallions beat Tunisia in the quarter-finals, without Traore.

The soft-spoken coach even has his son, Patrick Malo, in the team, but has not played him in any of Burkina Faso’s matches at AFCON 2021.

What a man!