Stoke City of England striker, Saido Berahino has declared that he and his colleagues in Burundi’s national team will not allow Nigeria’s much-favoured Super Eagles take them for a ride in Saturday’s first match of Group B at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, megasportsarena.com reports.
Burundi, who are in their first ever appearance at the continental soccer showpiece, after decades of trying, are the group’s least placed team in the FIFA monthly rankings, at 134th in the world, but Berahino says he is not bothered by all odds staked against them.
Rather than feel cowed by the Eagles’ array of stars and high sport as Africa’s third-ranked team in the eyes of global soccer governing body, FIFA, the former West Bromwhich Albion of England star insists his side will surprise the three-time winners.
He is banking on a presumption that Nigeria’s players are already over-confident ahead of Saturday’s clash, and the former England U21 player stressed that The Swallows will be all out to create an upset.
Berahino added: “The Nigerian players are convinced that they will win as a strong team, but we will not let them do that, we will do our best to win.
“The most beautiful thing about football is that it is full of surprises, which is what we are trying to exploit and we will take things step by step.
“We are lucky to qualify and we have to take advantage of the opportunity.
“Our chance that many do not know anything about us, which may help us to win.
“It is a great honor for my entire country, the people of Burundi were very happy and we have to be happy again.”
