Becker out to impress

Cape Town - Equatorial Guinea will look to rub further salt into the wounds of Burkina Faso when the teams meet for their second Group A clash at the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday.

The host nation’s team put up an impressive performance for most of the opening match against Congo on Saturday evening, but tired toward the end and were eventually held to a 1-1 draw.

"We did let it slip at the end, we were meant to win. But we left a great impression out there,” said Nzalang Nacional coach Esteban Becker in the aftermath of the match.

"I had 15 days to prepare with them and there are also a lot of new, young players. It was difficult to plan to try and peak all the preparations."

Now Equatorial Guinea face the task of trying to upset 2013 AFCON runners-up Burkina Faso.

The Stallions suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at the hands of Gabon in their opening match, with goals from Pierre Aubameyang and Malick Evouna condemning them to a bitter loss.

Burkina Faso Coach Paul Put criticised his team for wasting numerous scoring chances against Gabon, and has urged his players to prove their hunger for victory when they face the host side.

"I hope we will do better in front of goal in the next match, which will be vital. It is up to us to prove that we want to qualify for the next round," said Put.

Nzalang Nacional will again look to the creative talents of Kike, Javier Balboa, Iban and goal-scorer Emilio Nsue as they try to hand Burkina Faso a second defeat and boost their own hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals.

The Stallions, meanwhile, will hope that the likes of Charles Kabore, Alain Traore and Jonathan Pitroipa improve their level of play. Coach Put may also opt to include striker Aristide Bance from the start, having left him on the bench for most of the match against Gabon.

Kick-off at Estadio de Bata is set for 18:00 (SA time).