Previewing Mali vs. Cote d’Ivoire

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 group and avoid hosts Ghana in the quarter-finals.

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?