FILE PICTURE: Aristide Bance of Burkina Faso. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)
BATA (AFP)
The teams know each other well having met twice in the 2015 qualifying competition with Gabon winning 2-0 at home and drawing 1-1 away.
Both countries rely almost exclusively on foreign-based stars with only one local in the Burkinabe squad and two among the 23 Gabonese.
Brothers Alain and Bertrand Traore were chosen by Belgium-born Burkina Faso coach Paul Put. Alain plays for French club Lorient and teenager Bertrand for Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem.
FILE PICTURE: Bertrand Traore during the Dutch Eredivisie match between Vitesse Arnhem and ADO Den Haag at Gelredome on february 7, 2014 in Arnhem, The Netherlands(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images)
The Burkinabe Stallions defied long odds to finish 2013 runners-up behind Nigeria having entered the tournament without a Cup of Nations victory in 15 years.
The quarter-finals is the furthest the Gabonese Panthers have progressed, reaching that stage in 1996 and as co-hosts three years ago before losing penalty shootouts.
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