“Wait, there are still a few days left, things can happen…” When we contacted Hubert Velud, the coach of Burkina Faso, who faces Mauritania this Tuesday (3 p.m.) in Bouaké, oscillated between irony and superstition. At 64, the French technician, who worked for Clermont, Nancy, Paris FC and Créteil, also has a big CV in Africa. But he will finally discover the CAN. “Obviously, I felt a lack of not having participated yet. Especially after what I’ve experienced…” he sighs.
The rest after this ad
Hubert Velud should have already led two CAN selections, Togo in 2010 and Sudan in 2022. But he was deprived of it a few days before kick-off. January 8, 2010 will remain “engraved for life” for him. The Togo national team bus was machine-gunned by separatists in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda, as it crossed the border between Congo and Angola. Two members of the Togolese staff (a deputy and the communications officer) were killed. Hubert Velud had been hit in the arm.
