Burkina Faso have appointed two French coaches to take the national team the Stallions to the African Nations Cup in Tunisia.

Jean Paul Rabier and his assistant Frank Tanasi have been offered an initial 13-month contract to steer the Burkina Faso through the qualifiers of the next Nations Cup.

According to the Burkinabe football federation, Rabier will be given a further seven months extension to his contract if the team qualifies for Tunisia.

The French duo replace Jacques Yameogo and Pihouri Weboanga, who were the Burkinabe coaching duo fired after the Nations Cup in Mali earlier this year.

Rabier admits to knowing little about football in Burkina Faso, but he does have considerable experience of coaching in France, having been in charge of the likes of Guingamp, Rouen and Laval.

"I have given myself a challenge in coming here," Rabier told a Ouagadougou press conference.

"I have been in charge of four French second division clubs, and a foreign adventure interested me greatly because it is always rewarding for a coach to get to know other types of football.

"So if I am here, it is because I am very motivated," Rabier concluded.

The first target for the new coach's motivation will be qualifying for the 2004 Nations' Cup, a tournament that Burkina Faso have been ever-present at since 1996.

Many in Burkina Faso questioned the need for two foreign coaches, but Federation President Seydou Diakite is convinced the double act will prove its worth.

"We need two experienced people," Diakite said, "Frank [Tanasi] who is going to deal with young talents and physical preparation, while Jean Paul [Rabier] will be in charge of strategic questions.

Tanasi, a former Paris Saint Germain player, was formerly in charge of the French club's under 13-17 teams.

However, Burkinabe should not worry that the French double act will bankrupt their country's football: "both men agreed to financial concessions," said President Diakite.

Whatever they are paid, if Rabier and Tanasi take Burkina Faso to a fifth straight Nations' Cup, they will be worth every penny.