Burkina Faso Held By Mauritania In A Friendly

Burkina Faso played out a 0-0 draw with Mauritania in their first friendly game in preparation for the next month’s Africa Cup of Nations.

The encounter which took place in Abu Dhabi, UAE saw neither side break the deadlock after 90 minutes.

Kamou Malo’s side featured the likes of Dayo Issoufou, Edmond Tapsoba, Sanogo Zacharia and Quattara Djbril  from the start but they were unable to find a way past their North African opponents.

It was a stumbling start to the game by both teams which saw very few chance son goal early on.

The first real effort on goal came in the 16^th minute when Pape Ba fired a 25-yard shot inches wide of the Stallions goal.

Three minutes later Mauritania  had another chance on goal, but Idrissa Thiam headed a right wing cross narrowly over the target.

The best chance of the opening half fell to Simpore Saidou in the 40^th minute, but the Ittihad Alexandria man saw his shot from just inside the box superbly saved by the keeper.

The half ended 0-0.

Mauritania goalkeeper was called into action again five minutes after the break, this time denying  Edmond Tapsoba from range.

In the 53^rd minute Terrance Al Abeid should really have scored for Mauritania following a goalmouth scramble, but he struck the crossbar from close range.

The game fell into a bit of a lull after that as both teams squandered possession in the final third and chances on goal were at a minimal.

Djibril Ouattara almost stall the win in the dying minutes of the match with a thunderous long range effort, but  the Mauritania keeper pulled off a wonderful save to see the game end all-square.