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Soccer puts Burkina Faso on the map

Ask most people where Burkina Faso is and it is more than likely that you'll be met with blank stares. Try Upper Volta, the country's former name, and you may have more success. But this land-locked nation in West Africa is still largely unknown to the outside world, which is why the African Cup of Nations was so important to its development, as our soccer correspondent, Simon Hill, reports:

Many people questioned the suitability of Burkina Faso to host such a major sporting event. Recently ranked as one of the five poorest nations in the world, many Africans doubted it had the infrastructure to run the event successfully, while many Burkinabe argued the money could have been better spent on healthcare, or improving the lot of the vast majority of poverty-stricken citizens.

Burkina has no beaches to attract tourists. The oppressive heat means the countryside is largely bush and scrub, not exactly picturesque, and the dust and pollution that emanates from the use of a thousand mopeds and cars means the capital Ouagadougou probably wouldn't pass many environmental spot checks.

But that is to emphasise the negatives. Burkina may be poor, but in an African context it is filled with riches. It does not have the crime levels that blight Johannesburg, it doesn't have the chaos of Lagos, and nor does it have the political instability of Kinshasa.

President Blaise Campaore has been in power for over a decade. He appears popular. It was largely due to the football-loving Campaore that Burkina was chosen as the venue for the Cup of Nations. And his vision paid off for a country that is unused to media attention; that is apart from the annual African cinema festival, which is held in Ouagadougou.

Of course the event wasn't entirely without problems. With two days left before the start of competition, the main August 4th Stadium was still without press desks and telephone lines. The new Ouaga de Mil complex, built to house the teams and officials, was located miles from the town centre, leaving players with little to do and nowhere to go. And the locals were put off from attending the games by high ticket prices, leaving empty stadiums for games not involving the hosts.

Ah yes. The football. Well, the football was sometimes inspiring, occasionally breathtaking and rarely dull.

The inspiration was provided by the host nation, who were swept along to the semi-final stages on a wave of hitherto unseen football fever. Les Etalons - the team's nickname meaning the Stallions - had never won a game at the final stages before, but under Philippe Troussier, the Frenchman known throughout Africa as the White Witch Doctor for his magical footballing powers, they swept all before them until Egypt brought them back to earth in the last four. The Cup needed a successful Burkina Faso side and it got one.

The breathtaking moments were supplied initially by Ghana. A team so full of talent their only problem seemed to be which route to take to goal. But sadly, and so typically of African sides, they forgot the plot. Rows between the coach and players ensued, and inexplicably they crashed out of the competition without adding to their opening success against Tunisia.

That left two strikers to share the spotlight for the rest of the event. Benni McCarthy and Hossam Hassan are at opposite ends of the age spectrum, but both knew how to score, and both did, seven times each. Neither got on the scoresheet as their respective nations, South Africa and Egypt, contested the final, but their reputations will be enhanced, and McCarthy, 21, articulate and unafraid of a television camera, has the world literally at his feet.

Egypt indeed were worthy winners, their triumph a tactical success for coach Mahmoud El Gohary, who became the first man to win the competition as both a player and a coach.

But the memories of Burkina '98 will be of the host nation, the opening ceremony that was both traditional and exciting, jungle drums and parachutists, of the locals, who had nothing yet gave everything, and most of all, of Blaise Campaore and Philippe Troussier, who between them gave Burkina Faso celebration, experience, recognition, and a legacy.

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