Ghana 2008 - Team Profile - Mali

Africa Cup of Nations Statistics P W D L GF GA 22 8 7 7 31 34 Qualifiers Statistics P W D L GF GA 86 35 24 27 110 95   NICKNAME     COACH Jean-Francois Jodar (Mali)   CAPTAIN Mahamadou Diarra

Squad List Star Player Nations Cup Record How They Qualified Group B Matches Head to Head Stats Wallpapers

Mali return to the MTN Africa Cup of Nations finals after missing out on the last edition in Egypt, bringing with them a star studded squad which will be many pundits’ outside favourites to cause havoc to the established order at the tournament.

Mali have already proven their pedigree by making the semifinals of the 2004 and 2002 editions, and are able to use the experience of several of those squad members still.

They were also surprise semifinalists in 1994 and runners-up to Congo in the final of the 1972 finals, which was played in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Mali came through a tough qualifying group, winning a bruising battle away at the World Cup finalists Togo in Lome in October to qualify for the 2008 MTN Africa Cup of Nations.

They finished unbeaten at the top of Group Nine, driven by the form of the likes of Frederic Kanoute and captain Mahamadou Diarra, who was suspended after the last tournament they played in Tunisia.

Both Kanoute and Diarra play in Spain and Mali can also call on players from clubs in England, France, Greece and the Middle East.

Mali’s French coach Jean-Francois Jodar posted a record of three wins and three draws in the qualifying campaign in stark contract to their flop in the last qualifying campaign.

Mali’s fortunes are also closely guided these days by the football federation president Salif Keita, who was the first ever winner of the African Footballer of the Year award in 1970.