ACTUALITE |
06.02.2002
Confident Mali close in on African Nations Cup glory
BAMAKO
African Nations Cup hosts Mali, who failed to get past the preliminary round of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers 18 months ago, believe they could be crowned continental champions at the end of this week.
Mali have been riding a tidal wave of passionate support at the Nations Cup finals and play Cameroon in the semifinals in Bamako on Thursday.
Their 2-0 win over World Cup finalists South Africa in Sunday`s quarter-final has sparked a massive surge of expectation, despite the country`s lowly ranking of 108 on the latest FIFA standings.
``The team has been getting better with each game,`` said Mali`s Polish coach Henryk Kasperczak on Tuesday.
``They are a young side who are still learning but the self belief and experience is growing each day.``
Mali looked to be in crisis just four months ago when Italian coach Romano Matte was fired after a series of uninspiring results, culminating in a 6-0 defeat by French club Gueugnon while on a short tour of Europe.
Matte was replaced by former Polish World Cup defender Kasperczak but the team continued to struggle, finishing only third at the regional Amilcar Cabral Cup, which they hosted in November as a dress rehearsal for the African Nations Cup finals.
In December, they suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat by neighbours Ivory Coast in a warm-up friendly at home in Sikasso and few gave them any chance of getting past the first round of the Nations Cup when it kicked off on January 19.
In fact, Mali only equalised three minutes from time to avoid defeat in their opening match against Liberia, who they ultimately pipped for a place in the quarterfinals.
CHANGING FORTUNES
But a draw with heavily-fancied Nigeria, followed by a convincing win over Algeria, has changed their fortunes and put the team within one match of a place in the final.
``We have played some really good football in this tournament and shown a lot of confidence,`` said Kasperczak, who took an equally unheralded Tunisian side to the 1996 Nations Cup final in South Africa.
Dutch-based midfielder Mahmadou Diarra has emerged as one of the stars of this tournament, along with team mates Seydou Keita and Bassala Toure, who scored a stunning individual effort against the South Africans in Sunday`s quarter-final.
Toure is the only surviving member of Mali`s last Nations Cup finals appearance in 1994 when they also surprisingly reached the semifinals.
Public support has been a major contributing factor to `the Eagles` success with all Mali`s matches watched by capacity crowds.
All the major centres around the country are liberally bedecked with the country`s colours of green, yellow and red hanging on virtually every street corner.
Huge crowds surged on to the streets of Bamako to celebrate the win over Algeria on January 28 and Sunday`s triumph over South Africa, which was played in the mining town of Kayes.
Several accidents and injuries were reported as cars chased through the streets but the majority of celebrants have been people dancing on the side of the road, waving flags at passing motorists.
When the Mali team returned to Bamako hours after Sunday`s quarter-final win, police roadblocks were set up to stop fans from crowding the capital`s airport to welcome home their heroes after the short flight from Kayes.
``For most people, this is the biggest thing to have happened in their lives,`` said local organising committee official Mohamed Cisse.
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