Friendly: Burundi 7-0 Djibouti

11th March 2017
Friendly International
Stade du Prince Louis Rwagasore, Bujumbura, Burundi

Burundi 7-0 Djibouti

In a not wholly untypical revelation, Djibouti sprung this friendly match in Burundi from seemingly nowhere at rather short notice. Not wanting to do things by halves, they play a second friendly in Burundi again on 13th March.

If this first encounter is anything to go by, I don’t expect the rematch to have a dramatically different outcome. Having managed to keep the scores level for almost half an hour, Djibouti then seemingly imploded, conceding three in a devastating six minute spell late in the first half. From that point on, the match was lost and the second half petered out into the inevitable thumping.

Five minutes after the restart it was 5-0, and the only shock from then on was that Djibouti only conceded two more. Small mercies and all that.

The horrific score neatly disguises the fact that Burundi are hardly attaining any particular heights themselves, currently sitting at 139th in FIFA’s rankings, and should in theory have been easier opposition than that who beat Djibouti in last year’s AFCON qualifiers. They are, however, a cut above the opposition that Djibouti are presumably using these two friendlies as preparation for: two Africa Cup of Nations preliminary round matches against South Sudan later this month.

Previous meetings between these two had been rather closer than this particular clash, so here’s hoping for a more positive outcome from the second of the two friendly matches.