Qualifying campaign: Burkina Faso brought Central Africa down to earth after the latter caused a huge upset by eliminating Egypt in the first round of the qualifiers. Burkina Faso lost 1-0 at Central Africa in the first leg of the final qualifier but overturned the deficit with a 3-1 victory in the second to qualify for the CAN. History: The best achievement of Burkina Faso, who made eight CAN appearances, was a fourth-place finish in 1998 when they hosted the tournament. Expectations: Burkina Faso have competed in eight of the last 10 tournaments but have managed to get past the first-round group stage only once - when they hosted the event in 1998, and then by the slimmest of margins. With Nigeria and defending champions Zambia in their Nelspruit-based group they will need some extraordinary performances to reverse that trend at the 2013 finals. FIFA ranking: 89 (24 in Africa) Achievements: CAN semi-finalists in 1998 Coach: Paul Put (Belgium) Belgian Paul Put was banned for life in his own country in 2007 for fixing matches involving his club Lierse with a Chinese betting syndicate. He took over as coach of Gambia in 2008 and signed a three-year deal with Burkina Faso last March. The 56-year-old recently told Belgian television he felt he had been a victim of the betting scandal and needed to take pills to sleep at night. Key players: Alain Traore (Lorient) Age: 24. Pos: Forward Scorer of the goal that secured qualification for Burkina Faso in February, he has missed the preparations in a race against time to overcome an adductor muscle injury, for which he has been receiving specialist treatment in France. He moved to Lorient in Ligue 1 last year after eight seasons with AJ Auxerre. Jonathan Pitroipa (Stade Rennes). Age: 26 Pos: Midfielder Pitroipa moved from Ouagadougou to Europe as a teenager to play in Germany, starting first with an African enclave at SC Freiburg and then moving to Hamburg. Rennes paid three million euros for him in 2011 and he has delivered 12 goals for them over the last 18 months. Charles Kabore (Olympique Marseille). Age: 24 Pos: Midfielder Utility player and the leading light in the Burkinabe side, who can be used at right back, in central defence and as a midfield anchor. He has a long-term contract at Marseille, where he was a championship winner in 2010, but is often the subject of transfer speculation concerning English and Italian clubs. Full squad: Goalkeepers: 1- Daouda Diakite (Lierse), 23- Germain Sanou (St Etienne), 16- Abdoulaye Soulama (Asante Kotoko) Defenders: 5- Mohamed Koffi (Petrojet), 4- Bakary Kone (Olympique Lyon), 8- Paul Koulibaly (Dinamo Bucharest), 12- Mady Panandetiguiri (Antwerp), 3- Henri Traore (AshantiGold) Midfielders: 18- Charles Kabore (Olympique Marseille), 6- Djakaridja Kone (Evian Thonon Gaillard), 22- Prejuce Nakoulma (Gornik Zabrze), 13- Issouf Ouattara (Chernomorets Bougas), 11- Jonathan Pitroipa (Stade Rennes), 17- Ali Rabo (El Shorta), 7- Florent Rouamba (Sheriff Tiraspol), 21- Abdou Razack Traore (Lechia Gdansk), 20- Wilfried Sanou (Kyoto Sanga) Forwards: 14- Wilfried Balima (Sheriff Tiraspol), 15- Aristide Bance (FC Augsburg), 9- Moumouni Dagano (Al Siliya), 2- Wilfried Dah, 19- Pierre Koulibaly (both Al Dhaid), 10- Alain Traore (Lorient) (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/62107.aspx
