Seven months after their painful defeat in the hands of the Super Eagles in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations final, Burkina Faso take a short trip to Nigeria for an international friendly to be staged at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna on Tuesday . Prejuce Nakoulma’s goal proved sufficient for the Paul Put’s side to secure a place in the Fifa World Cup qualifying play-offs, while Nigeria defeated the Flames of Malawi 2-0 to stand a chance for a berth at the 20th edition of the World Cup. The Stallions have all to play for in this warm up encounter as they will be hoping to break their 49-year-old jinx of not beating the Nigeria senior national team after bowing 6-1 to then Green Eagles in their first ever international meeting on December 29, 1964. However, this could be a near impossible task for the French speaking west Africans as they face an attacking-minded side who have not lost a game on home soil since 2003, when they were trounced 3-0 by the Samba boys of Brazil. On their own part, Burkina Faso have won three of their last four away games and have suffered only two defeats in seven matches since their Cup of Nations loss to the Super Eagles of Nigeria. Though, the duo of Mikel Obi and Victor Moses who masterminded the fall of Malawi on Saturday will be unavailable for this tie, Stephen Keshi boasts of a very rich bench to ensure that their absence is not felt against the Burkinabes who will also be missing the services of star striker Aristide Bance. Prior to Tuesday’s game, Burkina Faso have won three of their last four away games and have suffered only two defeats. It is worthy of note that in twelve previous encounters, Nigeria boast of eight wins and four draws with the Stallions conceding 32 goals in the process.
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