With hosts Cameroon already sealing a place in the Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16, Burkina Faso and Cabo Verde will battle it out for the final automatic qualification slot in Group A.Both Burkina Faso and Cabo Verde could still progress by virtue of being the best third-placed team should they win today’s encounters with four teams who finish third set to progress to the last 16.Cabo Verde vs CameroonCabo Verde need nothing short of three points and could finish above Cameroon with a victory as head to head will be used as a deciding factor in the event of a tie in points. 5.80 Cabo Verde 3.50 Cameroon 1.75The Blue Sharks will draw inspiration from the 3-1 win over Cameroon last time out and the loss to Burkina Faso in the last game was their first eight games in the competition.Cameroon will again look will to their skipper and talisman Vincent Aboubakar who has so far netted four goals in the tournament and has taken an early lead in the Golden Boot race. The Indomitable Lions head coach Antonio Conceiçao admitted that Cabo Verde will pose a stern threat in the counter and noted that he might play an understrength side having already sealed qualification. “We are going to play against a good, disciplined, diligent attacking team. Cape Verde are a difficult team that will certainly create problems for us. We are not going to let up in this game, although we are going to rotate the team. Even if we have already qualified, this Monday’s game is still important for us. We have to approach this meeting very seriously. The spirit remains the same within the group. We want to go all the way and so write a new page in the history of Cameroonian football,” said Conceiçao Cape Verde assistant coach Humberto Bettencourt intimated that their main aim is to seal qualification to the knockout phases of the tournament.“We are only focusing on a positive result allowing us to qualify for the next round. It will be a different match than those in the qualifiers. “We have to be consistent if we want to reach the round of 16. Our primary goal is to get to the next round. We remain focused on achieving our objectives and going as far as possible,” said Bettencourt. The clash is slated for a 7 PM (EAT) kick-off. Burkina Faso vs Ethiopia Burkina Faso are hoping to replicate their only meeting against Ethiopia in the AFCON as they ran out 4-0 victors in the 2013 edition which to date is their biggest winning margin in the tournament. 1.62 Burkina Faso 3.50 Ethiopia 8.00Ethiopia who became the first team to land in Cameroon could become the first to exit the tournament and have little luck on their side going 10 games without a win in the tourney. Burkina Faso head coach Kamu Malo did not hold back in stating the significance of the game in their qualifying goal and was delighted to have Bertrand Traore in contention for selection. “Our game against Ethiopia is extremely important to us to achieve our mission of qualifying for the second round. We are happy players like Bertrand Traore are back on the team. As a coach that gives me many options.We are determined to win, but that doesn’t mean we can underrate Ethiopia. I have told my players the game should be treated as a do or die if we want to qualify,” said Malo.Ethiopia head coach Wubetu Abate revealed that the two defeats suffered in the tournament have been a learning curve for his side and called on his players to work their socks off in their final game of the tourney. “We lost two difficult games, but we are glad we have picked up positive lessons that will help us play against Burkina Faso who are equally a very tough team.We did not come to Cameroon as tourists, so I urged my players to give 100 per cent against Burkina Faso. We will change our strategy and hopefully, we can get the elusive win,” said Abate.The clash is slated for a 7 PM (EAT) kick-off.
