Burundi forward Fiston Abdoul-Razak will look to showcase his predatory prowess when the Swallows line up against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in their first ever Africa Cup of Nations match on Saturday at the 20-seater Alexandria Stadium, reports Completesports.com.
Former West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City striker, Saido Berahino is no doubt the biggest name in the Burundi team, but it was Abdoul-Razak who plays for Algerian club JS Kabyile who hogged the headlines for his heroics during the qualifiers.
Abdoul-Razak, 25, was second top scorer in the AFCON 2019 qualifiers with six goals behind Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo .
His impressive performances during the qualifiers is one of the reasons the once war ravaged country are heading to Egypt to compete against some of the best teams in the continent.
Abdoul-Razak (m) celebrates a goal with Burundi teammates
The former Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa player has also scored 18 goals in 38 appearances for Burundi on the international scene.
Abdoul-Razak also netted seven goals in 21 league appearances for JS Kabylie in the Algerian league during the 2018-19 season.
All eyes will be on the talented forward on Saturday to see if he can replicate his fine scoring form against one of Africa’s best teams.
By Adeboye Amosu
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COMMENTS
Beware of Burundi or what? If they cannot win this team convincingly, then they don’t have any business in Egypt…..
my brother 4get that thing football is not by name anymore ok. no small team in Africa especially when they are playing Nigeria, i watched this Burundi team against morocco i was shocktalise believe, this guys is playing good, lets just pray to be lucky to get out of that group
We need to beat Burundi convincingly, but my problem is iwobi, he has been poor for supper eagles, blows hot and cold, I think the coach should look for a better and natural central midfielder
@mykel, sorry my brother Dennis was not invited too late now, unless Rohr can be bold enough to try Moses Simon in that attacking midfield position.i think the coach should try and rotate Simon and Iwobi, I believe Simon would be our joker in Egypt.Saying it again now this Afcon would be very tough we would not tolerate any tactical blunders or excuses from this team Rohr should pls get things right before our first match.
First match wooble and fumble,
Second match beg Mikel and ighalo to play in their batural position, then
Win 1:0.
Last match draw.
Qualify from the group.
Get knocked out of the round of sixteen.
My young team is learning will do bettervat the next edition and the world cup.
Bla bla bla…..
Even if Rhor wins this AFCON without playing a free flowing football, i will not give him my vote.
For goodness sake Rhor is very low on confidence.
Who did not see how our ladies played against France.
A ton of self belief and self confidence.
This is all we ask of Rhor .
Will Fiston make a feast of Eagles?
In the article above, we were informed of the potential threat posed by Burundi’s goal machete Fiston Abdul Rasak but does this weapon of choice have what it takes to cut through the Eagles defence?
I do not think Balogun and Co have a great deal to worry about – this should be business as usual.
No player should be taken for granted ; indeed, no team should be taken for granted in international football however, I think we have what it takes to shackle Abdul Razak.
Although the 25 year old has scored an impressive 18 goals in 38 appearances for his country, the vast majority of these have come against the South Sudans, Seychelles, Namibia and Nigers of this world.
The JS Kabylie of Algeria striker, who has never played professionally outside Africa, is known to be predominantly a centre forward which speaks to his limited versatility.
Now, having said all that, football is not an exact science and it will be ill-advised to conclude that Fiston Abdul Razak will definitely not try to find the back of Nigeria’s net – indeed, he scored against Powerhouse Senegal in 2015 although they went on to lose that match.
All I am saying is that if Omeruo, Balogun and Ekong are on top of their game, Fiston Abdul Razak is one player they should be able to fold in their back pocket for the better part of 90 minutes.
The Super Eagles should indeed beware of Abdoul-Razak, but Burundi should also beware of Ighalo, Iwobi, Chukwueze, Onyekuru, Ahmed Musa, and even Akpeyi! Our Super eagles are full of many experienced (and “young”) players!
If we should be trembling because of a player that scored seven goals in the Algerian league, they should tremble more because of our players from England, Spain, Italy, Turkey and even China!
I am not trying to underate anyone, but this idea of fear mongering and over respecting our opponents should stop.
We may not win the AFCON, but we should not go into the tournament trembling. We have one of the most experienced squad going into this tournament.
It is not a crime to acknowledge our strength.
It beats me how you guys do not understand that Rohr is playing mind games and trying to get as much advantage as possible against our opponents. He wants them to think “yeah Naija is not that good” while he’s planning to hit them hard. Have you ever heard Guardiola say we will win this & win that anyhow? In every interview before a match, no matter who the team is, will be difficult & “complicated”. If he was coaching Naija we would be saying similar things as Rohr. It is only Naija local coaches that boast we will win this & win that. It seems we prefer boastful people. Trust me Rohr wants to wn this AFCON & i can guarantee that all his plans are geared towards it but you’ll never see him admit it puplicly. So all you guys should calm down. It is one game at a time. If we end up not winning it would not be for lack of trying or ambition trust me.
@adisboy I don’t agree with u, I have heard former internationals like yobo, expressing concern over rohr’s lack of confidence, u must not boast that u Must win the cup, rather, he can say that their ambition is to win the cup so that Te players will not be playing with d mindset that they are young and their to learn. Thank u
Mykel, have you been listening to the players recently? Mikel & Iwobi recently gave interviews, both saying they aim to win it. What does that tell you? It shows that Rohr tells them sonething else behind close doors. For their interviews it is clear that Rohr has hyped them to win the tournament.
Thank you Adisboy, your analysis is spot on.. people expected the coach to come out and start boosting of winning the cup… My question is, even Senegal, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Cameroon , Tunisia, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire none of these team coaches ever boosted of winning the cup, why should our people expect our coach to start blowing his own trumpet? What if after so many talks of winning, he looses out? The same people here, will give him a name… that he is so boostful… Rohr is playing a mind game, do you think NFF employed to come and take salaries and fail? If Rohr is not afraid of Cameroon, Zambia and Algeria in the World Cup group, and qualified with a game to spare, even with the Fifa deduction of points. over Shehu’s two yellow cards…we still qualified… The only problem with Rohr is the timing of his substitutions, which always too late…
Thank you Adisboy, your analysis is spot on.. people expected the coach to come out and start boosting of winning the cup… My question is, even Senegal, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Cameroon , Tunisia, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire none of these team coaches ever boosted of winning the cup, why should our people expect our coach to start blowing his own trumpet? What if after so many talks of winning, he looses out? The same people here, will give him a name… that he is so boostful… Rohr is playing a mind game, do you think NFF employed him to just come and take salaries and fail? If any team should accept winning the trophy, automatically you have put your team under serious pressure. If Rohr is not afraid of Cameroon, Zambia and Algeria in the World Cup group, and qualified with a game to spare, even with the Fifa deduction of points. over Shehu’s two yellow cards…we still qualified… The only problem with Rohr is the timing of his substitutions, which is always too late…
Burundi Beware! Musa not ighalo is nigeria’s most dangerous swallow.
Razzak is not only dangerous SWALLOW But there is others like
Elvis Kamsoba, Amissi Cedrick, Mohamed Amissi…..
At Adisboy and Empire, I agree completely with you guys opinion.