Aston Villa forward Bertrand Traore and Royal Excel Mouscron goalkeeper Herve Koffi lead a cast of familiar faces in the 27-man Burkina Faso squad to face Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo next month in Rabat, Morocco.
Stallion coach Kamou Malo named a largely unchanged squad from the team that faced South Sudan in a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers back in November 2019.
Herve Koffi returns to the squad after failing to make it to the first two Nations Cup qualifiers against Uganda Cranes and the Bright Stars due to an injury.
Also coming in is goalkeeper Farid Steeve of USFA, who might make his senior national team debut after sterling performances with the Burkinabe Division One outfit.
Familiar faces dominate Malo’s squad, with Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen making a return to the squad after falling out with the national team coaches.
Aston Villa’s Bertrand Traore is also in the team together with his brother Alain Traore who turns for Moroccan side RS Berkane.
There is no place for Jonathan Pitroipa after the striker announced his retirement from the national team, same as Aristide Bance, who completely retired from football.
Only three home-based players made it to Malo’s squad led by goalkeeping duo of Farid Steve and Babayoure Sawadogo.
Burkina Faso are using the friendlies to ready themselves for the back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Namibia slated for November.
Full squad
Goalkeepers:
Hervé Koffi (Mouscron), Babayoure Sawadogo (RCK), Farid Steeve (USFA)
Defenders:
Steeve Yago (Caen), Yacouba Coulibaly (Havre), Issa Kaboré (Malines), Dylan Ouédraogo ( Louvain), Issouf Dayo (Berkane), Edmond Tapsoba (Leverkusen), Mohamed Ouattara (Olympic Safi), Ouattara Soumaila (Rahimo), Saidou Simpore (Al Masry)
Midfielders:
Charles Kaboré (Dinamo M), Abdoul Bandaogo (Betis Seville B), Bryan Dabo (Benevento), Adama Guira (Guangzou Chine), Alain Traoré (Berkane), Sami Hien (Salitas), Cyrille Bayala (Lens), Dramane Nikiema (Horoya), Razak Traoré (Giresunspor), Sanogo Zakaria (Ararat )
Forwards:
Frank Lassina Traoré (Ajax), Bertrand Traoré (Aston Villa), Eric Traoré (Pyramid), Ouattara Djibril (Berkane), Mohamed Konate (FC Kim, Russie)
