Monday, January 23, 2012

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24.01. (Tue) 20:00 Mali - Guinea

Mali team
Goal.com

PROBABLE LINEUPS

MALI


Diakite
Coulibaly, Tamboura, Berthe, Kante
A Traore, Keita, Kone, M Traore
Maiga, Diabate
GUINEA


Yattara
Zayatte, Diallo, Kalabane, Camara
Balde, Feindouno, Diallo, Yattara
Bangoura, I Traore
Mali were involved in one of the most dramatic matches at the last tournament in Angola when they came back from 4-0 down with 15 minutes left to draw with the hosts in the opening match. They have since been working to rebuild their squad with the arrival of Frenchman Alain Giresse as coach. A younger squad has been built by Giresse around Barcelona star Seydou Keita, who is now 30 years old. The Malians will be without influential midfielder Mahamadou Diarra of Monaco, who did not make the trip to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Mali have also announced the call-ups of Ousmane Berthe and Souleymane Keita to their Afcon squad following injuries to midfielder Kalilou Traore and defender Mohamed Fofana.
The Eagles will be hoping to win their first game of this tournament against their neighbours if they are to do better than their last showing where they crashed out in the first round, albeit with one of the most impressive midfield talents in all of the continent.
Guinea will go into this game with the confidence of having stopped giants Nigeria from qualifying for the tournament in a tough group duel last year. Having missed out on the 2010 edition, the Syli Nationale will be looking to make it to the last eight and match their previous feats of 2004-2008.
Anything short of the quarter finals will be seen as failure on the side of Michel Dussuyer’s men who have the influential midfielder Pascal Feindouno and striker Ismael Bangoura in his side. They will also be able to count on the support of their minister of sport, former Liverpool forward Aboubacar Titi Camara who has been a force of inspiration for the team. Guinea have been hit with the loss of Kevin Constant, however, as the player decided to pull out of the squad ahead of the tournament for reasons that are not entirely clear.
Both teams have to contend with the overpowering presence of Ghana in their group.
DID YOU KNOW?

  • Mali have produced some of the best defensive midfielders on the continent in the last decade, which include Seydou Keita, Mahamadou Diarra and Momo Sissoko.
  • While the two team have been runners up in the 1972 and 1976 editions, Mali came fourth as recently as 2002, while Guinea’s best has been in the quarter-finals between 2004 and 2008.
  • Mali and Guinea share land borders as well as similar cultures and are predominantly Muslim.
  • Guinea finished top of their Afcon qualifying group to dispatch giants Nigeria and keep them from a place at Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
  • Guinea is nicknamed the Syli Nationale, which means the National Elephant.
  • This is Guinea's tenth appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Prediction
Both of these teams are capable of scoring goals, and this encounter could end in a score draw.
Editor's Prediction
Mali 2-2 Guinea