Burkina Faso’s Under-23 Team Arrives Just Hours Before Kickoff, Falls 7-0 to Argentina

Is it a football match or a drama scene? Burkina Faso’s tour of Argentina may raise this question! Usually, teams arrive a few days in advance for international football matches and prepare intensively. However, the opposite happened in Burkina Faso’s case. The previous day, their travel was uncertain due to flight complications. After overcoming all the complications, the visitors boarded a plane to Buenos Aires at the last minute. After a long and tiring journey, they had to go straight to the field to face Argentina. No rest, no preparation – in this unreal reality, the underpowered team was completely disoriented when they took the field in front of the world champions. As a result, they had to digest 7 consecutive goals with tired bodies and a team that was in a tight spot!

Travel fatigue and the ‘U-23’ team’s dilemma

Burkina Faso faced unprecedented travel complications before the match. The cancellation of the first charter flight from Morocco and a dispute with the travel agency almost ruined the entire trip. The team finally arrived in Buenos Aires by plane from Casablanca, just four hours before the match.

Added to this were internal troubles. Due to financial and internal disputes with the country’s football federation, the main players of the national team did not agree to go on the Argentina tour. The coach was forced to make an XI mainly from the youth of the U-23 team. Apart from the Czech Babel Doumbia, there was no other experienced face in the XI.

A flurry of goals in the first half

The visitors faced a series of attacks from Argentina as soon as they took to the field. Taking advantage of travel fatigue and inexperience, Argentina took a 5-0 lead in the first half.

• 4 minutes: The penalty shot was saved by the goalkeeper, but Lautaro Martinez scored the rebound to put the team ahead.

• 8 minutes: Defender Moumouni Diallo’s own goal doubles the lead.

• 12 minutes: Gianluca Prestianni makes it 3-0 with a wonderful shot.

• 35 minutes: Nico Paz scores the fourth goal with a perfect finish.

• 36 minutes: Julian Alvarez makes the scoreline 5-0 with a dazzling long-range shot.

The attack did not stop in the second half either.

Argentina made several changes to their squad after the break, but the intensity of the game did not diminish. Franco Mastantuono scored the sixth goal in the 58th minute. Then, in the third minute of added time, Juliano Simeone headed in Valentin Barco’s cross. As a result, Argentina left the field with a huge 7-0 victory.

The Under-23 team, on top of that, went straight to the field after getting off the plane—despite this huge loss, the audience in the gallery did not hesitate to applaud and encourage the young Burkina Faso players, seeing their efforts.