Cameroon boss Toni Conceicao and his Burkina Faso counterpart Kamou Malo both vowed to play with passion and intensity in the Cup of Nations third place play-off on Saturday night.
Cameroon lost on penalties to Egypt on Thursday at the Olembé Stadium in Yaoundé while Burkina Faso went down 3-1 to Senegal on Wednesday evening in the capital at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo.
That stadium will be the venue for the game that both coaches say their teams need to win.
"We will not be in the final and we are as sad as the 27 million Cameroonians who wanted us to be there," said Conceicao. "But that's soccer. You have to know how to get back up."
Cameroon midfielder André-Frank Zambo-Anguissa echoed his boss. "When you are a man, you fall. You have to know how to recover. It's the mark of the greats and that's what we're going to do."
Adventure continues
After the third place play-off, Cameroon have two important encounters in March with Algeria for a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Burkina Faso, however, will not be involved in those World Cup play-offs. Saturday night will be their big moment.
Malo, who is leading the national side at the tournament for the first time, said he wanted his squad to continue their adventure.
"We had a good tournament and we must try to finish it on a high," added the former police officer.
Cameroon and Burkina Faso contested the opening game of the competition at the Olembé Stadium on 9 January.
A 2-1 victory for the hosts ignited the partisan fervour that was only doused on Thursday night in the same arena.
Nearly a month after that game, the inaugural protagonists will play in the tournament's penultimate match.
"To have regrets would be to do injustice to our journey," said Malo. "So we're not going to be down-hearted. There's a prize to play for."
