By Anthony McLennan
Togo are looking to honour those killed in the 2010 bus attack in Angola as they eye a place in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final.
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The Sparrow Hawks face surprise packages Burkina Faso in a quarter-final clash at the Mbombela Stadium on Sunday evening.
It's been a tough couple of years for the Togolese. While commuting through the Angolan province of Cabinda during AFCON 2010, the Togo national team bus was attacked by gunmen.
Three people died - Améleté Abalo, who was the assistant coach, a Togolese journalist by the name of Stanislas Ocloo, and Angolan bus driver Mário Adjoua.
In addition, seven people were injured: five players and two members of the medical staff.
One of those players was defender Serge Akakpo, a key member of the current squad. Daré Nibombé also survived his injuries to return to the squad that is in South Africa.
Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor, one of Africa's biggest stars, was also on the bus and subsequently quit the national team in April 2010, but returned in November 2011.
The former Arsenal man has been inspirational at AFCON 2013, and it was his clever through ball that allowed Nantes striker Serge Gakpe to score in the 1-1 draw with Tunisia that saw the west African side through to the last eight.
Adebayor believes that his side have the ability to go all the way.
"It's a good thing [reaching the knockout stages] for the country and a good thing for me. We can even go ahead with what we think we can do, and I hope now we have a chance to win the cup. We just have to go for it," he said.
The 28-year-old went on to reveal that the Sparrow Hawks will be looking to honour their former colleagues when they take to the field against the Stallions.
"It's a historic thing. We feel very sorry for those people who were killed in the bus attack. We had a nice team together, and some of those people have gone. It's a tough one.
"I'm very proud of my country, of what we have been through.
"I think you guys know it better than I do that two months ago when we qualified against Gabon we went through a lot of difficult moments, of me coming to the Africa Cup of Nations or not coming. Now I'm here and I'm very happy - I'm part of the history."
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