Panoramic
| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
COTE D'IVOIRE  Barry Lolo, K Toure, Bamba, Tiene Gosso, Y Toure, Tiote Kalou, Drogba, Gervinho | MALI  Diakite Coulibaly, Tamboura, Berthe, Kante A. Traore, Keita, Kone, M. Traore Maiga, Diabate |
Brimming with enormous confidence (knowing that even their second string can do damage against any team on a good day), the Ivorians will face Mali with the sole purpose of crushing all opposition on their way to a second Afcon title.
A smart gambler would likely place his bet on an Elephants’ victory at the end of this game. They are yet to concede a goal in the competition and they have many options in every department of the squad. But they can be found guilty of overconfidence when it matters most.
However, coach Francois Zahoui has found a way to cull their once attractive but unproductive game and replaced it with a more cautious approach. He is content with grinding out results and keeping a clean sheet while relying on the power of forwards Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Gervinho to create the opportunities needed to propel the team forward. In midfield they are supported by reigning African player of the year Yaya Toure.
Mali come into this game knowing that they have already achieved more than many people expected of them. After squeezing through the group stages where they won two matches and lost one to tournament favourites Ghana, the Eagles kept their cool to sail past Gabon in the quarter-finals in front of a partisan crowd.
Both of these teams sent the two host nations packing and this will be enormous confidence boosters ahead of the encounter. But the Eagles have been known to crumble when the pressure was applied. At the last tournament in Angola, Mali held so much hope but crumbled in the first round. That is distant memory now.
The Eagles will have in the back of their minds their encounter with the Elephants at the Afcon in 2008 when all they needed in their last group match was a draw to get through to the quarter-finals. However, they bit off more than they could chew as Drogba led the Ivorians to a 3-0 thrashing and eliminated them from the tournament.
Midfield veteran Seydou Keita and the rest of his team will take comfort in the fact that they have already surpassed all expectations of their countrymen this term and will do well to play this game with less pressure than their opponents, who need to prove a point. This could be the tonic that the Eagles need to go on after a gruelling 120 minutes in their last game.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
Cote d’Ivoire forward Didier Drogba, who scored his 53rd and 54th international goals in the quarter-final victory against Equatorial Guinea, is married to a Malian woman.
- It is exactly 20 years since the Elephants’ only victory at the Afcon.
- This tournament is seen by many as the last opportunity for the ‘Golden generation’ of Ivorians to win a trophy for the west African nation who are presently the continent’s top ranked team.
- This is Mali’s first semi-final showing at the Afcon since 2004, when they came fourth. They have an illustrious tournament record of reaching the semi-finals five times from seven appearances.
- The Eagles refused to collect bonuses from the Malian FA when they qualified for the tournament as a sign of how committed they are to playing for their country.
- Seydou Keita asked his countrymen to sheath their swords and find peace after their quarter-final victory against Gabon following fighting between government troops and Tuareg rebels in the north of the country.
Common sense gives this encounter to the Ivorians but it is possible that they might implode again when it matters most. Expect fireworks in this encounter as these two sides serve a west African derby that is characterised by speed, skill and physical grit.
Editor's Prediction
Mali 2-1 Cote d'Ivoire 
