Africa Cup of Nations - Group D - Mali



Colours: Green shirts with a yellow and red stripes / yellow shorts / red socks
Capital: Bamako
Country population: 14,517,176
Mali have never qualified for the World Cup Finals, but they have faired better in the Africa Cup of Nations. In 1972 they reached the final losing to Congo 3-2. The next time that they qualified for the final stages came in 1994 when they reached the quarter finals, something that they have accomplished twice since. Last time out in 2010 they were responsible for one of the biggest come backs of all time when they scored 4 goals in the last 15 minutes to get a 4-4 draw with Angola

Star player: Mohamed Kalilou Traore

The attack minded midfielder started his career off at AS Real Bamako in 2006, but his career really took off when he was at NK Istra 1961. In 2008 he scored 9 goals in 27 games, which attracted bigger Croatian teams such as Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split. However, in 2010 he signed for Odense in Denmark and is again attracting attention from the bigger clubs.

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