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Mali fly Africa`s hopes (21.08.2004)
Mali v Italy, Athens, Saturday, 1500 GMT
Mali shoulders the responsibility of defending Africa`s pride as they take on Italy in the Olympic quarter-finals.
With Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia out of the men`s competition, the Malians remain the continent`s sole hope of winning a third gold medal in sucession.
They were not tipped to qualify from a group that included Mexico, South Korea and host nation Greece.
But the side has forged confidence that they could emulate Nigeria`s victory in 1996 and Cameroon`s encore in Sydney.
Cheikh Oumar Kone, a cautious coach, is keen to downplay his country`s chances.
"We are here to learn," Kone insists in an interview with Fifa.com.
"We are not one of the favourites. We just want to enjoy the moment," emphasises the coach, who has retained the squad that prevented Cameroon from qualifying for the Olympics.
"I wanted to keep the same boys together for a longer period."
However, star player
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Mohamed Lamine Sissoko is not as cautious as his coach.
He believes Mali`s chances of winning gold are bright.
"We are very disciplined and fully concentrated and proved we have an excellent team," Sissoko said.
"I am definitely dreaming of a gold medal."
Apart from Sissoko, Mali can count on Tunisia-based attacker Tenema Ndiaye, who is the tournament`s top scorer with four goals.
His partnership with Dramane Traore, the top marksman in last season`s African Champions League, has produced one of the tournament`s most incisive forward pairings.
Their Italian opponents have struggled against African opposition at the tournament.
They had to overcome a 2-0 deficit to draw level with Ghana and could find it difficult to contain an enterprising Malian side.
But Mali`s defensive weakness, failing to hold onto a 3-0 lead against South Korea in the group stages, is indicative of a flaw that the Italians could exploit to snatch a semi-final ticket.
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