I knew as soon as the draw was made for this final round of African qualifiers that Mali could not afford any missteps seen as they were in a group with arguably Africa’s best side- the Black Stars of Ghana. They would need to hold serve against Benin and Sudan and hope to somehow nip [...]

West Africa has to choose sides this weekend as the Eagles of Mali will face one of Africa’s most recent World Cup participants, the Black Stars of Ghana. At stake is key positioning in Group D of African qualifiers for South Africa 2010. After a somewhat disappointing 1-1 draw with Sudan back in March, Mali [...]

Things are starting to gear up a bit for the final stage of African qualifiers for South Africa 2010. With Mali’s first game in Group D set for March 28 in Sudan, it’s time for a preparatory friendly.
In Paris on Feb. 10 Mali will meet Angola in what should be a good tune-up for the [...]

In case you missed it, there has been some unfortunate injury news from the camp of Real Madrid. This isn’t breaking news anymore (in fact since the injury, Real Madrid has had time to bring in another Diarra to replace the injured one) but I wanted to bring it up in the context of Mali’s [...]

Mali’s quest to be the next West African country to earn a surprise World Cup qualification is set to enter it’s final stage where the road will have to go through, drum roll please…West Africa. After Senegal’s exploits in 2002, and Togo’s surprise qualification in 2006 mixed with the good showings by Ghana [...]

Well, folks, a post on this Mali blog is long overdue. I have neglected this page for far too long. After being so ramped up and involved during the Africa Cup of Nations, I went into withdrawal and took some time off from posting here and on the Togo page knowing that in a few [...]

Well, things have been quiet on the Mali blog since the Cup of Nations but there is a bit of news to keep our eyes on as we ramp up for World Cup qualifying.
Once again, Stephen Keshi is linked with an African national team as being the next coach to be named. A few [...]

Though Mali is gone from this years edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, at least one member of the team will still be going back to their club with some hardware. On Friday, Mali and Sevilla striker Freddy Kanoute was named the 2007 CAF African Footballer of the Year. It’s too bad the award [...]

I’m still in recovery mode after Mali’s disappointing showing against Cote d’Ivoire on Tuesday. The ACN has lost some of it’s luster for me now. It’s still a great tournament and there will still be some great football to watch, but when your main rooting interest bows out of a tournament like this, some of [...]

Africa Cup of Nations, Group B
Date: Tuesday, 29 January
Kick-off: 1700 GMT
Venue: Accra Sports Stadium, Accra
The Combatants
The first place and tournament favourites, Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire will be facing my new second-favourite African side, the Eagles of Mali. Both teams are expecting to advance to the knockout stage and both even have eyes to top the [...]