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Confident Mali closes in on glory Posted: Tuesday February 05, 2002 11:39 AMUpdated: Tuesday February 05, 2002 11:45 AM BAMAKO (Reuters) -- African Nations Cup hosts Mali, who failed to get past the preliminary round of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers 18 months ago, believe they could be crowned continental champions at the end of this week. Mali have been riding a tidal wave of passionate support at the Nations Cup finals and play Cameroon in the semifinals in Bamako on Thursday. Their 2-0 win over World Cup finalists South Africa in Sunday's quarterfinal has sparked a massive surge of expectation, despite the country's lowly ranking of 108 on the latest FIFA standings. "The team has been getting better with each game," said Mali's Polish coach Henryk Kasperczak on Tuesday. "They are a young side who are still learning but the self belief and experience is growing each day." Mali looked to be in crisis just four months ago when Italian coach Romano Matte was fired after a series of uninspiring results, culminating in a 6-0 defeat by French club Gueugnon while on a short tour of Europe. Matte was replaced by former Polish World Cup defender Kasperczak but the team continued to struggle, finishing only third at the regional Amilcar Cabral Cup, which they hosted in November as a dress rehearsal for the African Nations Cup finals. In December, they suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat by neighbors Ivory Coast in a warm-up friendly at home in Sikasso and few gave them any chance of getting past the first round of the Nations Cup when it kicked off on January 19. In fact, Mali only equalized three minutes from time to avoid defeat in their opening match against Liberia, who they ultimately pipped for a place in the quarterfinals. Changing fortunes But a draw with heavily-fancied Nigeria, followed by a convincing win over Algeria, has changed their fortunes and put the team within one match of a place in the final. "We have played some really good football in this tournament and shown a lot of confidence," said Kasperczak, who took an equally unheralded Tunisian side to the 1996 Nations Cup final in South Africa. Dutch-based midfielder Mahmadou Diarra has emerged as one of the stars of this tournament, along with team mates Seydou Keita and Bassala Toure, who scored a stunning individual effort against the South Africans in Sunday's quarterfinal. Toure is the only surviving member of Mali's last Nations Cup finals appearance in 1994 when they also surprisingly reached the semifinals. Public support has been a major contributing factor to "the Eagles" success with all Mali's matches watched by capacity crowds. All the major centers around the country are liberally bedecked with the country's colors of green, yellow and red hanging on virtually every street corner. Huge crowds surged on to the streets of Bamako to celebrate the win over Algeria on January 28 and Sunday's triumph over South Africa, which was played in the mining town of Kayes. Several accidents and injuries were reported as cars chased through the streets but the majority of celebrants have been people dancing on the side of the road, waving flags at passing motorists. When the Mali team returned to Bamako hours after Sunday's quarterfinal win, police roadblocks were set up to stop fans from crowding the capital's airport to welcome home their heroes after the short flight from Kayes. "For most people, this is the biggest thing to have happened in their lives," said local organizing committee official Mohamed Cisse. Lua Lua blames referee for Congo's exitBAMAKO -- Democratic Republic of Congo striker Lomana Tresor Lua Lua bitterly criticized Italian referee Domenico Messina on Tuesday, blaming him for their 2-0 African Nations Cup quarterfinal defeat. "The referee was an absolute shambles because he's the one who killed our game," said Lua Lua, referring to Monday's match. "You're working hard and there's someone there just giving bad decisions. I don't know if he had something against us but he's the one who messed up everything for us." Congo complained that they should have had a penalty and that Senegal's second goal, scored from a breakaway late in the game, should have been disallowed for offside. A stormy encounter in Bamako, Mali, produced two brawls, several vicious tackles, mutual provocation and the tournament's first red card, awarded to Congolese substitute Alexis Tekumu for a wild two-footed tackle late in the game. "We had a penalty and their second goal was offside," said Lua Lua, who plays for English premier league Newcastle United. "Most of their players play in Europe and they're well known. Sometimes they fell over without being touched, screamed and the referee just gave the foul to them." "We had a lot of fouls which the referee didn't give and there was a penalty right in front of him but he just let the game go on. "Sometimes you can't really do anything. We're happy to have got to the quarterfinals, we think we could have got to the semifinals but really the referee ruined it for us." Lua Lua said that Congo were the better team and said he was surprised that Senegal had qualified for the World Cup. "I thought we could have won the game but we didn't have any luck. I didn't think Senegal were anything special, I'm surprised they got to the World Cup playing like that and I think we outplayed them," he said. In Kinshasa, officials said that gangs of street children rampaged through the city chanting slogans and throwing stones late on Monday after the game. Witnesses said truckloads of armed police were sent to quell the mob of angry youths, who marched through the residential and shopping district of Matonge banging on the doors of foreign-owned shops. Egypt's Ramzy puts retirement on holdBAMAKO -- Hany Ramzy, the long-standing Egyptian defender, is considering continuing his international career with an eye on the record books at the next African Nations Cup finals in 2004. The German-based 32-year-old had said he intended to retire from international soccer at the end of the current Nations Cup in Mali after Egypt's failure to qualify for the World Cup finals later in the year. But now he has had a change of heart and says he will continue with the Egyptian side until the next Nations Cup finals in Tunisia. Should Ramzy play in that tournament, he will equal Ivorian goalkeeper Alain Gouamene's record of seven Nations Cup finals appearances. Ramzy, from German Bundesliga club Kaiserslautern, has played in every Nations Cup since 1992 in Senegal, and was a youthful member of the Egyptian side that played at the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy. "I had wanted to retire from the Egyptian side after the World Cup finals, but unfortunately we did not qualify," said Ramzy. "Then I decided that if we won this Nations Cup tournament I would stop my international career, but if we didn't I would continue," he told Reuters. Egypt were beaten 1-0 by Cameroon in the quarterfinals in Sikasso on Monday, a match which marked Ramzy's 119th international appearance. Only compatriot Hossam Hassan, who played his 160th match for Egypt on Monday, has earned more caps in the history of African football. Great servant Egypt's coach Mahmoud Al Gohari described Ramzi as a model player and a "great servant" to Egyptian football. "He got married just before the finals and he took some time off for the wedding and a little honeymoon, but after two days he was on the plane to Mali to compete for his country," he said. "He has never complained about the taxing schedule of club versus country. He has always been available to play for the Egyptian team," said Al Gohari, who ended his own long-standing career with Egypt after Monday's elimination from the tournament in Mali. Ramzi was first capped by Egypt in November, 1988, aged just 19 and played in the side that won the African championship in Burkina Faso four years ago.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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