Match report
That’s all from me. Mali were excellent for 50 minutes and really should have taken control of the game in this period. But they didn’t, and then they allowed Wilf Zaha to score a defensively monstrous goal, and so they lost. Bye!
#Can2019 1/8è de finale score finale #Mali 0-1 #Civ
— FIFCI (@FIFCI_tweet) July 8, 2019
Les Éléphants en quart de finale
🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿👌🏿🙌🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿 pic.twitter.com/z1MSm8mJeM
So Ivory Coast will return to Suez on Thursday to play Algeria in the quarter-finals, with the winner of that game to face the winner of the Nigeria v South Africa match in the final four.
Mali had precisely twice as many shots as their opponents (14-7), but their finishing was poor. All their best performers were on the wing, and not doing the shooting.
Final score: Mali 0-1 Ivory Coast
90+4 mins: The game ends with players arguing about whether there was or wasn’t a push, and whether there should or shouldn’t be a free-kick, and who should take it, and from where. Eventually the referee gives up on convincing them to get on with it, and blows for time.
90+4 mins: The referee spots some kind of push, and Ivory Coast will end the game with a free kick of their own.
90+4 mins: Time’s up, but Mali have one last free kick, from the right-hand corner of the penalty area.
90+3 mins: Save! One of the Adama Traores gets down the right and pulls back, but the shot that follows is too close to the keeper!
90+2 mins: There will be three minutes of stoppage time, of which only one remains.
90+1 mins: It’s curled in and lands on Coulibaly’s head, but he can’t direct it on target. It’s then sent back in, and Seri does brilliantly to roar back into the picture as Marega chests down, to deny the Malian striker another opportunity to disappointingly fail to score.
90 mins: The final seconds of the game, and Mali have another corner.
89 mins: In the last few minutes the referee has come to the conclusion that any contact between two players must deserve a free kick. The game is thus petering out amid a storm of refereeing whistles.
88 mins: Mali win a corner, and this time Gbohouo comes out, jumps high and claims cleanly.
85 mins: The Ivory Coast bring on Bony, replacing Kodjia.
84 mins: Hamari Traore’s cross from the right is speeding, dipping, and just a yard or two too long.
83 mins: Bagayoko takes an age over a throw-in, from which Kessie wins a free-kick. It’s suddenly stoppage city.
82 mins: Mali are now playing with a flat back four, a flat front four, and a very busy midfield two.
79 mins: Kalifa Coulibaly has come on in place of Lassana Coulibaly, very much a like-for-like swap.
GOAL! Mali 0-1 Ivory Coast (Zaha, 75 mins)
And there is the goal! And it’s an absolute defensive horrorshow! Gbohouo takes a free kick deep inside his own half, and it is missed the defender, bounces over Kon and through to Zaha, who sidefoots past the advancing but poorly positioned Diarra!
73 mins: The game could do with a goal now. The wind has left Mali’s sails and it’s getting a bit boggy in midfield.
71 mins: Another looping through-ball towards Kodjia, but this time Diarra doesn’t fall over, and claims easily enough.
69 mins: Ivory Coast take off Pepe and bring on Cornet.
67 mins: What a chance for the Ivory Coast and Kodjia! It’s a simple ball over the top, and when Diarra, the Mali goalkeeper, falls over, it looks like a simple finish. But Kodjia doesn’t seem confident, and Diarra gets in the way of his shot!
Updated
65 mins: Bagayoko commits another foul on Djenepo, and though the referee refrains from booking him he probably should have done, and the defender must now be hanging out in the proverbial last chance saloon.
63 mins: Another Mali substitution, and again they bring on Adama Traore. They had two of them, and now both are on the pitch. This one is the Cercle Brugge midfielder.
62 mins: Bagayoko is booked for shoving Djenepo, who falls over and rolls around a lot, and Mali have a dangerous free-kick on the left.
58 mins: The Ivory Coast are enjoying their best period of the match. No great chances so far, but they are enjoying a bit of territorial advantage.
55 mins: Half a chance for Ivory Coast! Pepe’s 20-yarder deflects over the bar, and from the corner Kodjia half-volleys wide.
54 mins: Mali make the first substitution of the day, bringing Adama Traoré on for Diaby. The Ivory Coast defence has been struggling against pace, and now there’s more of it.
52 mins: Chance for Mali! Marega plays in Djenepo this time. Bagayoko falls over, giving him a free run on goal, and he advances on Gbohouo before, just as a goal appeared inevitable, getting confused and falling over.
50 mins: No sign yet that Ivory Coast have woken up at half-time. Mali continue to appear the only side with any idea how to win this game, or even to attack.
46 mins: Kanon gets in a muddle, the ball ricocheting off both of his legs and to a Malian player, who plays in Diaby on the right. Kanon is very fortunate that it ends with just a corner, and that said corner is entirely harmless.
46 mins: Peeeeeeep! Mali get half No2 started.
Both teams are now back out. A big 45 minutes awaits.
The Mali players are gathering in the tunnel ahead of the second half. No sign yet of the Ivorians, which very much follows the first-half pattern..
Hi, Simon here, back again. Sorry about the temporary loss of updates. As miffed as I am with my recalcitrant computer Mali will be more miffed not to be going in at least a goal to the good. It’s been an impressive opening half from them, with Djenepo outstanding on the left and Traoré also good on the right. Marega, unfortunately has not brought his shooting boots. Ivory Coast really have done very little goal-bothering.
Half time: Mali 0-0 Ivory Coast
Marega is almost played in, but is flagged offside. And that’s half-time. Mali on top, but no goals yet.
45 mins: Zaha gets crowded off the ball and has a little kick out at the defender. He wants to be careful. One added minute ...
42 mins: A drop of the shoulder from Djenepo, who then feeds Marega. The Porto forward shoots from a tight angle, finding only the side netting.
39 mins: Apologies – my TV feed cut out unexpectedly. It’s been one of those days. Kodjia tries to find room in the Mali area, but is closed down. Prediction – this first half will end goalless.
35 mins: Ouch, this looks nasty. Ivory Coast centre-back Wilfried Konan contests a high ball and clatters into Diarra in the Mali goal. The defender goes down, and his teammates rush the medical team on. The stretcher is out, but Konan gets up and looks set to carry on. Worrying, given he looked to be out cold.
32 mins: Moussa Djenepo, the winger signed by Southampton over the summer, has caused plenty of trouble for Ivory Coast, who have struggled to get out of their half in the last few minutes.
28 mins: Mali have been the more attacking side, and Koné has a go from the edge of the area, but blazes it over the bar.
26 mins: Niall McVeigh here – just jumping in as Simon has some technical issues.
14 mins: Ivory Coast have so far relied on long balls. This doesn’t seem a hopeless tactic: Pepe runs clear in pursuit of the latest, but it’s overhit and collected by Diarra.
11 mins: Mali are looking quite bright in attack, and Marega leads their latest push forwards. It’s a fine move, but rather than going for goal he tries to set up Coulibaly, which is where it all goes wrong. A minute earlier Djenepo ran down the left, before overhitting a pull-back, which his team-mate couldn’t control.
7 mins: Half a chance for Zaha, who runs onto a poor defensive header, cuts inside onto his right foot and has a shot, but two Mali defenders fling themselves into the ball’s path, and it hits the first of them.
5 mins: Shot! It’s Mali with the first pop on goal, Kone blasting a 40-yard free-kick goalwards. It flicks Pepe on its way through, and is struck with some venom, but it’s far enough from goal for Gbohouo to gather easily.
3 mins: Ivory Coast have had most of the early possession, but haven’t done a lot with it.
1 min: Peeeeep! They’re off! Ivory coast, all in white, get the game started.
All set and ready to roll. Deep breath now.
Excellent update, this.
The match will begin in a bit. 🇨🇮🇲🇱 ⏰#TotalAFCON2019 #MLICIV pic.twitter.com/bnVoROCm59
— CAF (@CAF_Online) July 8, 2019
Mali’s team are absolutely abysmal singers. In all my years of watching international football, I think this is a new low.
The players are on their way out! Action is but a couple of anthems away!
A reminder that there will be no VAR today (but there will be from the quarter-finals onwards):
Today's two matches are the last at AFCON before VAR rears its ugly head. So far, despite some eccentric decisions and a general overtolerance of rough tackling, we seem to have done fine without it.
— Brian Homewood (@brianhomewood) July 8, 2019
The teams are in! And these are today’s starting line-ups:
Mali: Diarra, Traoré, Koné, Wagué, Fofana, Haidara, Samassekou, Coulibaly, Djenepo, Diaby, Marega.
Ivory Coast: Gbohouo, Coulibaly, Gbamin, Mamadou, Kanon, Kessié, Serey Die, Zaha, Pepe, Kodjia.
COMPOSITION | Voici les 11 de départ pour le match à venir #MLICIV #TotalAFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/OowOgVeqnt
— CAF (FR) (@caf_online_FR) July 8, 2019
Ivory Coast have no such issues, with every shirt pleasingly hung and what appears to be an extremely generous fruit basket on the central table.
#CAN2019 : #Mali - #Civ #Eléphants #Honneur #Force et #Courage
— FIFCI (@FIFCI_tweet) July 8, 2019
Début de la rencontre à 16h00 gmt pic.twitter.com/NF5v2PDhfX
This footage from inside the Mali dressing room shows how a dearth of hangers has led to wildly excessive shirt-draping:
Un passage rapide dans les vestiaires ! 👇😍#TotalAFCON2019 #MLICIV pic.twitter.com/XgZdZX2jom
— CAF (FR) (@caf_online_FR) July 8, 2019
Hello world!
A quarter-final against Algeria is at stake for Mali and Ivory Coast. Both won two of their three group-stage games; the Ivorians lost the third and came second to Morocco in Group D; Mali drew with Tunisia but still won Group E at a canter. Ibrahim Kamara, the Ivory Coast coach, has an iron grip on the implications of this game: “We know that if we don’t win, we’re out,” he said. And never a truer word was spoken. “We’ll have to be focused because any mistake could cost a lot,” he added.
Ivory Coast won the tournament in 2015, and in 1992 for that matter. Mali have reached five semi-finals and one final, back in 1972, but have no trophies in their cabinet. “What happened in the past doesn’t matter. What matters is the next game,” sniffed their coach, Mohamed Magassouba. “We want to make history. In order to do that, we need humility and self-sacrifice. We want people in Mali to be happy.”
According to the 2019 World Happiness Report Mali is the 128th happiest nation. Ivory Coast is 99th, up from 151st in 2015*. A little bonus happiness is coming to one of them in a couple of hours’ time, and we can share it with them. Welcome!
* The United Kingdom, which seems to be full of pretty miserable people, came 15th.
