For the Eagles to maintain any shot at South Africa 2010 they will need to win their 3 remaining games and hope that Ghana falter at some point. Basically, there is a mathematical chance at qualification yet many would argue not a realisitc chance.

Mali will once again be without Momo Sissoko and Mahamadou Diarra for this crucial match. An interesting addition though is newcomer Mamadou Samassa. The former French junior international is one of those that is benefitting from FIFA’s change of the age limit to commit to a country for international duty. The ruling was changed recently when FIFA met in the Bahamas and Mamadou has since been called up by Mali even though he had been capped by France at the junior level.

Even without key players in Sissoko and Diarra, Mali has a lot of firepower in Freddy Kanoute, Seydou Keita, and Modibo Maiga and I look for them to handle the Squirrels of Benin and keep their faint hopes alive. Final score, Mali 3, Benin 2.

There is some interesting player news on both sides of the pitch leading up to this one. First, Ghana will be without captain Stephen Appiah, striker Asomoah Gyan, and possibly Michael Essien. Not sure of all the details, but apparently Chelsea’s Essien has some issues in court back in Ghana that could cause him to miss the trip to Mali. That would be welcome news for Mali for sure. As far as the Eagles are concerned, they will still be without their own captain, Mahamadou Diarra but will be happy to have Momo Sissoko and Drissa Diakite back in the squad.

Here’s the full squad list for Mali:
Goalkeepers: Soumbeyla Diakité (Stade Malien), Mahamadou Sidibé (Ethnikos, Greece), Oumar Sissoko (FC Metz, France)

Defenders: Cheick Oumar Ball (ASKO), Adama Coulibaly (AJ Auxerre, France), Souleymane Diamouténé (Roma, Italy), Boubacar Sidiki Kone (Maghreb Fes, Morocco), Amadou Sidibe (AJ Auxerre, France), Bakary Soumaré (Chicago Fire, USA), Adama Tamboura (Helsingborg, Sweden)

Midfielders: Drissa Diakite (Nice, France), Souleymane Dembélé (Djoliba), Lassane Fane (Al Merreikh, Sudan), Jimmy Kebe (Reading, England), Seydou Keita (Barcelona, Spain), Mohamed Lamine Sissoko (Juventus, Italy), Bakaye Traoré (Amiens, France), El Hadj Mahamane Traoré (OGC Nice, France), Sambou Yattabare (Caen, France)

Strikers: Cheik Diabate (AC Ajaccio, France), Mamadou Diallo (Le Havre, France), Frédéric Kanouté (Sévilla, Spain), Mamadou Samassa (Olympique Marseille, France), Mustapha Yattabaré (Clermond Ferrand, France), Modibo Maiga (Le Mans, France)

In Paris on Feb. 10 Mali will meet Angola in what should be a good tune-up for the challenge ahead. We won’t see a full-strength Mali squad but still a very good one. Missing in action will be Mahamadou Diarra who is suffering from an injury to his right knee, and Momo Sissoko who is serving a one-match ban for picking up a second booking in the last stage of World Cup qualification. So, there are your subtractions, but there is an interesting addition to make note of. Chicago Fire defender Bakary Soumare (pictured) has been given his first call-up to the Mali national side. Born in Mali, Bakary moved to France when he was very young and then to the U.S. when he was a teen. He’s been trying to get his U.S. citizenship and had hopes of playing for the American national team but when he found out that wouldn’t be happening until 2010, he opted to play for Mali. Aside from another annoying case of an African only playing for his birth-country as his “back-up” plan, I’m hoping he can be a key player for the Eagles over the next few months.

Here’s the full squad named for the Angola friendly:

Goakeepers: Mahamadou Sidibé (Etnikos Achnas/Greece), Oumar Sissoko (FC Metz/France)

Defenders: Cédric Kanté (Nice/France), Souleymane Diamouténé (Lecce/Italy), Adama Tamboura (Helsingborg/Sweden), Adama Coulibaly (Auxerre/France), Kalifa Cissé (Reading/England), Eric Sékou Chelle (RC Lens/France), Bakary Soumaré (Chicago Fire/USA)

Midfielders: Seydou Keita (Barcelona/Spain), Sidi Yaya Keita (RC Lens/France), Drissa Diakité (Nice/France), El Hadji Mahamane Traoré (Nice/France), Souleymane Dembélé (Djoliba AC), Sambou Yattabaré (Caen/France)

Strikers: Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (FC Sévilla/Spain), Modibo Maïga (Le Mans/France), Moustapha Yattabaré (Clermont/France) Bakaye Traoré (Amiens/France), Soumaïla Coulibaly (Moenchenglabach/Germany)

Mahamadou apparently picked up the injury originally against Chad on October 11 in the last round of qualification for South Africa 2010 but he then came back and played for a month with Real Madrid before the doctors shut him down and said he will need surgery to do some repair work on his knee ligaments. Initially it was said he would be out for 6-9 months which is possibly a pretty major blow for Mali. The best case scenario would see Diarra only miss the first 2 or 3 games of Group D action in Africa qualifiers. So, how big of a hiccup is this for Les Aigles? Honestly, I think Mali have the skill to make due without him but only time will tell. As March gets closer we’ll look at who needs to step up in the absence of Diarra, or at least who I think needs to step up.

It will soon be time to ramp up again with talk of World Cup qualification so stay tuned.

There is no doubt that Mali can score goals with the likes of Freddy Kanoute, Mahamadou Diarra, and Seydou Keita on the pitch but the question is can they play defense? Strangely enough though, in the 2008 Cup of Nations in Ghana, Les Aigles only found the back of the net once and that was from the penalty spot. So which team should we expect? Based on the previous round of World Cup qualifiers I would say the offensive-minded Eagles will show their faces and try to win games 2-1 and 3-2 but it’s at least comforting to know that they can play defense, it’s just a matter of what style of football head man Stephen Keshi will be stressing. All I know is there is too much talent on this time not to make a serious run at qualification for South Africa 2010. More analysis of Mali’s group will come later.

Next up for Mali is a friendly against Algeria on Tuesday in France. It’s looking somewhat like a B-team appearance with Freddy Kanoute, Momo Sissoko, Seydou Keita, and Mahamadou Diarra all missing the game due to injury. Here’s the complete squad list named by Keshi:

Oumar Sissoko (FC Metz-France), Soumaila Diakité (Stade Malien), Amadou Sidibé (Auxerre- France), Souleymane Dembélé (Djoliba), Aboubacar Tambadou (Stade malien), Aboubacar Magassa (CSK), Eric Sekou Schelle (Lens-France), Souleymane Diamounténé ( Lecce-Italy), Abdoulaye Camara (Durban-South Africa), Kalifa Cissé (Reading-England), Sidi Yaya Keita (Lens), Alphousseyni Kéita (Le Mans-France), Cheick Fanta Mady Diarra (CSK), Modibo Maiga (Le Mans- France), Cheich Tidiane Diabaté (Ajaccio-France), Mustapha Yatabaré (Clermond Ferrand- France), Sambou Yatabaré (Caen -France), Ténéma Ndiaye (Tours- France), Bagary Diakité (Wiesbaden-Germany), Sékou Camara (CSK)

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 short months World Cup qualifying would be in full swing. Now that we have arrived at that point, it’s time to kick things back into gear.

So, what have the Eagles of Mali been up to so far in Round 2 of African qualifying for WC 2010? Well, just about perfection I’d say. The only blemish for them in Group 10 is a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Sudan. Mix that in with victories over fellow groupies Chad, Congo, and the aforementioned Sudan, and you’ve got Mali atop the group with 9 out of a possible 12 points and an impressive 11 goals for, 5 of which having been scored by Freddy Kanoute.

Although advancement isn’t a lock yet, things are looking pretty good as there are 8 runner up spots available in this Round 2 of African qualifying should Mali trip up in the final 2 matches and get passed by Les Diables Rouges of Congo.

It will all be much clearer at the conclusion of the Mali-Congo clash which will be this Sunday the 7th in Congo. Stay tuned…

Once again, Stephen Keshi is linked with an African national team as being the next coach to be named. A few weeks ago I was under the impression that Keshi was still the coach of the Togolese team but since then it seems he’s been linked with every West African country except Togo. Ok, that’s an exaggeration. However, it was just a few weeks ago when the Nigerian was the front runner to be named the next coach of the Super Eagles. I personally think the Nigerian FA was foolish to not go with Keshi as their head man but they chose to pass.

Now it appears that the Eagles of Mali are about to name Keshi as their skipper. If they do go with the former Togo boss, then Keshi will have a chance to take a West African country to their first World Cup appearance for the second straight time after accomplishing that feat with Togo in 2006. I think whoever ends up with Keshi will have made a good decision and if it can’t be my boys from Togo than I guess Mali is the next best option.

It seems a little strange that someone not born in Africa could win this award, but Kanoute’s father is from Mali and Freddy seems to be all about Mali now even though he played for his native France as a junior international until 2004. After receiving the award he said, “I dedicate this to my family, who could not be here and to the people of Mali.” He also stated, “I believe that sport can be used as a tool for development in Africa.”

This is good for Mali and good for Kanoute as he will play a major role in Mali’s attempts to qualify for South Africa 2010.

In honour of this award for Freddy, here’s a video compilation I found. It’s an older one from when Kanoute was with Tottenham but has some great highlights. By the way, I bet no one is happier than Sevilla to have seen Mali eliminated…welcome back Keita and Kanoute.

It’s one thing when a team plays their best and still gets beaten, but with Mali I got the feeling that we never saw them at their best and it leaves me wanting more.

Elephants-3 Eagles-0
Unfortunately the live online feeds I had streamed for all the other games so far in this tournament decided to go on the fritz for Tuesdays games so I was unable to watch even a second of this match. However, based on what I read in Daryl’s LiveBlog of the game, it was a pretty poor showing for Mali and with Drogba’s early goal, the result never seemed in doubt. Even though only a draw or even a late goal in defeat would have been enough to push the Eagles through to the quarters, they were unable to put up much of a fight and the better team definitely looked like the better team. Any pre-match thoughts of the 2 French coaches cooperating and playing nice to earn a draw ended up being at best, misguided opinions.

Let’s point some fingers
There’s plenty of blame to go around here so let’s dish some out. First we must start with the man in charge, Jean-François Jodar. Now to be fair, I must first say that I was giving him a lot of credit for how Mali played in the first two matches. It seems like he worked out a good game plan and the team seemed well-prepared to execute that plan. However in the third match it all fell apart. The team seemed unmotivated to play in a game that they needed a result from. They seemed to be content to sit back for the draw which would have been fine if Cote d’Ivoire was taking that same approach. And what was with the half-time substitution of Freddy Kanoute? In needing a goal one would expect to see the star striker remain on the pitch, no? Maybe there is an explanation yet to come such as an injury or a feud with the coach but that remains to be seen. In some post-match interviews Jodar gave the impression that he was convinced that the Elephants were going to rest Drogba and other players who had already picked up yellow cards. That was partially true as Arouna Dindane and Arthur Boka were absent, however Drogba was there and was key in the victory. Seems to be a case of Jodar mis-reading the hand of his opponents and taking the outcome for granted. That, for a coach, is unacceptable. And why not bring back the same lineup (albeit minus Mahamadou Diarra) that was pretty effective against Nigeria? Something tells me the 3rd and crucial group stage match was not the place to introduce players that had little or no playing time in the first two games.

The players must be held responsible as well. They simply did not show up. Captain Diarra was absent because of two yellow cards (cheap ones I might add), and what about Momo Sissoko taking a trip away from the team to sign his new contract with Juventus? Was that necessary? Especially right before a key match. Reminds me of when NBA star Vince Carter split for his graduation right before a do-or-die playoff game in 2001. And as far as Kanoute goes, he looked very little like a world-class star throughout this whole tournament. He played alright at times but to me just looked too nonchalant and dispassionate. Is he not motivated enough to represent his country? We’ll see how he shows up for the World Cup qualifying.

The Bottom Line
Let’s get down to brass tacks, Mali blew it. They had a chance to cruise in to the quarters and they flat out didn’t show up. I’m sure they have left all their fans back home pretty disappointed and wondering what’s next as they now turn their focus to WC 2010 qualifying. It’s a team I still will be following and rooting for in the coming years if simply for the fact that it seems they have some great potential yet to be realized.

The plot line
With both teams only needing a draw to secure their place, might we see a pretty tame affair with both teams doing their level-best to secure a 0-0 scoreline? On the other hand, the Elephants can’t take Mali lightly because an Eagle win would give them first in the group and a more favourable quarter-final opponent of Feindouno-less Guinea. By the same token, if Mali eases up too much they could find themselves on the losing end and risk giving up their spot in the next round to Nigeria. So, will the teams find a way to walk the fine line of a casual, friendly draw, or will we see a game with both teams going for the win? Time will tell.

The history
If my french is up to speed, than what I’ve been reading about the past encounters of Mali and Cote d’Ivoire is kind of scary. In reading the local Mali website, it seems that Mali have only been able to pull out 2 victories and 5 draws in 20 previous matches against their West African rival. Not good, not good at all.

The players
More important than who’s playing might well be who’s not playing. The well-publicized injury of Kolo Toure will keep him out of todays match and maybe the next one as well. Also, it appears that Abdoulaye Méité has accrued two yellow cards and will be out for the game against Mali. Similarly, Mali midfielder and captain Mahamadou Diarra has 2 yellows in 2 games and will be AWOL as well. And then there is Momo Sissoko (pictured). He didn’t play at all in the first game and then started in the second and at times looked pretty good. But over the weekend he had a whirlwind trip to Italy and back to complete his transfer to Juventus. Apparently he arrived back in Ghana on Monday and should be ready to go for Tuesday’s match. It will be interesting to see the 11 Elephants that take the field, and how long certain stars (ie. Drogba) stay on the pitch. Other than the absence of Diarra, I expect to see the same Mali line-up that drew Nigeria, with Bassala Toure possibly taking Diarra’s spot.

The outcome
You know what? Let’s just be bold here and predict the unthinkable. I’m taking the Eagles to pull a stunner and defeat Cote d’Ivoire 2-1 and take top spot. Why not? I have a hard time cheering against the Elephants but all the same, I want Mali to qualify and to do well. And wow, wouldn’t Ghana vs. Cote d’Ivoire be just about the best quarter-final match-up ever?