SSI v2 Burkinabé

When it comes to the 2022 edition of the AFCON tournament many didn’t expect Burkina Faso to make it to the semi-finals amongst the top nations, but now it seems like The Stallions are the dark horses of the tournament, no puns over here. Many have had their money on the number 1 ranked side in Africa, Senegal, or the mighty Pharos who come to the tournament with the world's best player, Mo Salah, or even the host nation itself who are second behind Egypt with a total of 5 AFCON wins. Initially, Ivory Coast was part of the tournament favourites until their star-studded European lineup was knocked out by Egypt on penalties. Going through the semi-finals it’s the usual big guns who made, Cameroon, Egypt, Senegal, beside the Stallions. It’s not their lineup that boasts top European players nor tactics but it has just been a matter of willpower to get them to the semis.

These Burkina Faso players went into AFCON well knowing that their country is unstable and could be facing a military coupe. A military coup d'état was officially happened in Burkina Faso on 23 January 2022 while the players were at the tournament. Gunfire erupted in front of the presidential residence in the Burkinabé capital Ouagadougou and several military barracks around the city. The soldiers were reported to have seized control of the military base in the capital and announced the capture of the state. Yet the show goes on.

Cameroon obviously wants to win as the host nations, Mo Salah wants to best crowned as the best in the World, Mane needs to lead his team to AFCON victory and beyond, as this is Senegal's golden generation reborn, but one team out of the 4 without the European stars are the Stallions. Even though their country is a shit show right now, nothing new in Africa I guess. They have a job to do on the pitch that’s beyond football, they are playing for a torn country, in a time of no hope, they carry it. It’s a dark time for the Burkinabé players, what mindset do you play with knowing that your country has been taken over by the military, and we all know how that ends in Africa, bloodshed and all the mess that come with power-hungry trigger happy military coupes. A similar story to the team of Guinea when Colonel Mamady Doumbouya has warned his players they must win the Africa Cup of Nations, or pay back the money used to help them prepare for the tournament. What a state of mind to be in as a player, fuckshitcrazy, but hey this is Africa, nothing new over here, teams go into AFCON while famine, war, bloodshed, and ungodly things happen in their homelands. At times right outside the stadium. We can even look back at what happened in 2021, the attacks that happened in Solhan, one of the deadliest attacks in the country when suspected jihadists massacred at least 160 civilians, including around 20 children, in Solhan, a village in Burkina Faso's volatile north, and around the same week a slaying of 14 people in one of the regions, just to give you a clue of what’s happening.

It’s 2022 and you would expect change, but I guess this is a motivator for Burkina Faso, and as we have sadly seen how well teams do, who are forcefully backed by the military, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, etc. FIFA likes separating sport and politics but in this case, it’s one. One people playing and praying for a nation. Though let’s not get it twisted, Burkina Faso is not new to the top level, they have been significantly making progress in the past 10 years, reaching the final in the 2013 AFCON, losing out to Nigeria in the final, and in 2017 reaching 3rd place in the Gabon hosted AFCON tournament.

All the best to the Burkina Faso players, hopefully, these are the players who can grab the African sun in flight, in the current dark night. So we have dedicated this Salon Style edition to the peeps of Burkina Faso, and not forgetting the ever so influential past player Aristide Bancé. He was a resemblance of a stallion, a tall figure, quick with long legs, fast-paced but with mad style and skills, on and off the pitch. Bancé did not make the AFCON 2022 but he makes the list of the freshest ballers in Africa. Enjoy the selection of Burkinabé hairstyle stories.