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early congratulations to the Malian players”,”caption”:”An early congratulations to the Malian players!”,”credit”:”Photo: Fadel Senna /AFP/Getty Images” }}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1706634096000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”12.01 EST”,” blockLastUpdated”:1706634527000,” blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”12.08 EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1706634323000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”12.05 EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”12.05″,”title”:”GOAL! Mali 1-0 Burkina Faso ( Tapsoba 3 OG)” ,”Contributor”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tuesday 30 January 2024 12.27 EST”,”SecondaryDateLine”:”First published Tuesday 30 January 2024 11.00 EST”},{“id”:”65b91d268f080289a2b48fdf”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Mali (4-4-2): D Diarra; H Traoré, Kouyate, Niakaté, Sacko; Camara, Coulibaly, Haidara, A Traoré; Sinayoko, Doumbia.
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Burkina Faso (4-3-3): Koffi; Kabore, Dayo, E Tapsoba, Yago; Ouédraogo, Sangare, Touré; B Traoré, Konate, AF Tapsoba.
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Hello all and welcome to live coverage of match 43 in this fascinating edition of Afcon. All of a sudden the tournament feels like it has opened up for this pair. The exits of Senegal and Egypt from this half of the draw has given the route to the final a tantalising air. The winners here face the hosts Ivory Coast – who were abject in the group but so gutsy in beating Senegal on Monday – with either DR Congo or Guinea awaiting in the semi-finals. It really does feel like this is anyone’s tournament now.
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So could it be the year that one of these two write their name on the trophy for the first time? Burkina Faso have a fine recent Afcon record, reaching three semi-finals in the past five editions. Mali, on the other hand, haven’t been that deep in the competition since 2013. Neither side really shone in the group stage but as Ivory Coast showed on Monday, it’s worth expecting the unexpected.
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Kick off is at 5pm GMT.
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important events
25 minutes: A VAR check was carried out as Mali tried to take a penalty, but their hopes were denied as an offside flag was raised.
23 minutes: A big chance for Mali! Shinayoko beat the offside trap and brought on Doumbia with a quick one-two. His low shot was blocked well by Kofi, but he really should have done better. He didn’t blush when the offside flag went up.
21 minutes: …Traore’s low shot went on target, but it was comfortable for Diarra.
19 minutes: Kabore pushes the ball into Mali’s box, but his cross is cleared with his head. If I were a supporter of Burkina Faso, I would be a little worried about their lack of creativity. They don’t seem to have much of a plan to break through this solid Mali defense. But they have a set piece 40-odd yards from goal…
17 minutes: Shinayoko considers shooting from long range, but chooses not to, and Mari attempts to pass through instead. It came to nothing, but the Eagles have now taken a little bit of control.
16 minutes: Pass, pass, pass from Mari, and for the first time the game calms down and we can take a breather.
13 minutes: At the heart of Mali’s midfield, Amadou Haidara already looks like an elite presence on the pitch. He fed Adama Traore, who hit a fly from 25 yards that went several yards over the bar.
11 minutes: …That’s a decent ball in, Diarra is in no man’s land again, but Dayo can’t quite get over the ball.
10 minutes: Yago storms Burkina Faso’s left flank and wins a corner kick…
8 minutes: It was a hectic start. There are certainly some nerves on each side.
6 minutes: Traore takes a free kick from the right, Gigi Diarra misses his shot, and Marielia are thrown into chaos. There was a brief moment of hope for Burkina Faso, but the referee’s whistle resulted in a rather generous foul on the keeper.
5 minutes: It’s a really strange goal. Did Tapsova look like she was trying to buffer the ball back to the keeper, or perhaps push it sideways? Either way, the Leverkusen man got it all horribly wrong.
goal! Mali 1-0 Burkina Faso (Tapsova 3 OG)
It didn’t take long. There is no need to mess with the back from Mari. Niakate fired a free kick forward from a deep position to give Mari the lead. The ball was swung in from the right and Haidara hit the post with a header, and from the rebound Edmond Tapsoba looped the ball back past his own goalkeeper.
Pee! Then we’ll leave.
The players are in the tunnel…
geography and history
This is a real derby. Mali and Burkina Faso actually share a border in the Sahel region, which is 1,325km long (or about eight times the size of England and Scotland). The two countries have not always been easy neighbors, with a brief war erupting in 1985, but they have become much closer in recent years, and last year it was announced that the two countries, along with Niger, would form a new political and economic entity. There was talk.
And providence provided a suitable venue for this conflict. Kollogo and the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium are located in the middle of northern Ivory Coast, just 100 km from the borders of Mali and Burkina Faso.
The road to the top 16
Mali made it through Group E without any particularly spectacular results. They won 2-0 against South Africa, followed by a 1-1 draw with Tunisia and a 0-0 draw with Namibia. That said, their defensive record of only conceding one goal so far is something to be envied. Meanwhile, there was drama in the final stages of the tournament in Burkina Faso. In the opening game against Mauritania, he scored the winning goal in the 96th minute, in the 2-2 draw with Algeria he scored the equalizing goal in the 95th minute, and in the second round he scored in the 92nd minute against Angola. They lost -0 in the final group match.
team
Mali (4-4-2): D Diarra; H Traore, Kouyate, Niakate, Sacco. Kamara, Koulibaly, Haidara, Traore. Sinayoko, Doumbia.
Burkina Faso (4-3-3): Kofi; Kabore, Dayo, Etapsova, Yago. Ouedraogo, Sangare, Thule; B Traore, Konate, AF Tapusoba.
preamble
Hello everyone. Welcome to the live coverage of the 43rd edition of this fascinating Afcon edition. Suddenly, it feels like the tournament is opening for this pair. With Senegal and Egypt both defeated in the first half, the road to the finals looked rocky. The winner here will face host country Ivory Coast. Despite suffering a crushing defeat in the group stage, they showed courage in defeating Senegal on Monday. In the semi-finals, either the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Guinea awaits. Now it really feels like this is someone else’s tournament.
So, will this be the year either of these two will write their name on the trophy for the first time? Burkina Faso has had an excellent performance at the Afcon in recent years, reaching the semi-finals three times in the last five tournaments. Mali, on the other hand, hasn’t been in much competition since 2013. Neither team shined much in the group stage, but it’s worth hoping for surprises like Ivory Coast showed on Monday.
Kickoff is at 5pm Japan time.
