Football: Poor nation, promising players

The Fifa Under-20 World Cup is just a week away. What do we know about the four teams being hosted in Dunedin? Completing our series, Hayden Meikle profiles Mali.

 

The country

Yikes, Mali.

We can all point to Mexico, and have at least some idea of where Uruguay and Serbia are located.

But Mali? It's in Africa, obviously. West Africa, to be sort of precise.

It's a landlocked nation of about 14 million people, many of whom are quite poor.

French is the official language, a legacy of 19th-century imperialism.

But probably the most famous thing about Mali is one of its cities: a place called Timbuktu.

 

Football history

Fairly limited at the top level.

Mali has never qualified for the World Cup, although it made the final of the African Cup of Nations in 1972 and was third in both 2012 and 2013.

In 2010, Mali pulled off one of the great comebacks.

It trailed Angola 4-0 with 11 minutes to play, and scored four quick goals to seal a 4-4 draw.

 

Great players

Plenty in recent times.

West Ham fans will have fond memories of Frederic Kanoute, while Momo Sissoko was briefly a midfield powerhouse at Liverpool.

But the big names are Mahamadou Diarra, who was at Real Madrid, and Seydou Keita, who played for Barcelona and is now at Roma.

 

Previous tournaments

Mali is appearing at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup for a sixth time.

It was third in 1999, the only time the country progressed from pool play.

 

These kids

Sory Ibrahim Traore is a goalkeeper of real promise, and look for defenders Aboubacar Doumbia and Youssouf Kone to provide strength at the back.

Adama Traore has been in the Mali senior squad and is on the books of French club Lille.

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