"It has been as important for us to win for the people as it has been for ourselves."
The words belong to Seydou Keita, midfield lynchpin of the Malian national side. Having never qualified for a World Cup, and only once reached the Final of the African Cup of Nations, Mali head into a semi-final match with Nigeria at the 2013 tournament on the verge of creating a new chapter in their footballing history.
Despite their limited international
pedigree, there is a real sense that Mali are an emerging force, competing in
their fifth semi-final since 2000, rising to 25th in the FIFA
Rankings and exporting a host of star players to Europe in recent years
including Mahamadou Diarra, Seydou Keita and Mohamed Sissoko, following on from
Fredi Kanoute, the most famous footballing representative from Mali in the past
decade.
But Mali’s march towards a potential final
with either Ghana or Burkina Faso comes at a difficult time for the country and
its population and is set against the backdrop of war. In scenes reminiscent of
a bygone age, French President Francois Hollande received a hero’s welcome in
the historic town of Timbuktu in Mali last week after French forces were
successful in repelling the advance of Islamic radicals and al-Qaeda in the
country.
Hollande was welcomed to Mali as a saviour. Source: european_parliament
Indeed the past 12 months has seen
sustained conflict in Mali, beginning with a Tuareg rebellion in the north of
the country driving out the government from the region. The government was then
ousted by a military coup d’etat in March 2012. Northern Mali was completely
captured by rebels in April 2012, and quickly seized by Islamist groups (who
sought to impose sharia law), before the recent fight back and French
intervention.
Football has not been immune from the
problems. After an impressive and unexpected third place in the 2012 edition of
the African Cup of Nations, Alain Giresse quit his position as coach of the
Mali national side less than a month before the World Cup qualifiers, in the
wake of the military coup which left him initially unable to leave the country.
Giresse was unhappy with a new contract offer that “impeded my independence. I
had to give a list of players for approval and the medical staff was no longer
under my direction.”
Such an event and interference in team
affairs could have seen the team’s performances affected negatively. Conversely
it appears to have had the opposite effect, galvanising the players in a way
also seen with other African nations experiencing conflict in recent years. The
team sits just one victory away from their first appearance in the Final since
1972 and should stand a genuine chance of qualification for the 2014 FIFA World
Cup in Brazil.
Should they win, the impact at home will be
a huge lift to the morale of the Malian people besieged by conflict. Such is
the important of the game, football fans have celebrated the progress of the
national team on the streets of Bamako, believing that victory can provide a
boost for those waging war on Islamic rebels in the north and restore peace to
the troubled nation.
Mali defeated hosts South Africa in the quarter-final. Source: GovernmentZA
The players themselves, led by captain
and former Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita, have recognised the importance of
positive football results and its influence at a vital time for their country
and its people. After reaching the semi finals, Keita wrapped the Malian flag
around himself and linked the football team’s campaign on the conflict, saying
"It (the flag) flies not only in the northern part of Mali, and not only
in the south of Mali, but also outside Mali…That is important. Only football
can do that."
Keita has continuously linked the
performances of the Mali team back to the conflict and a message of peace
throughout the tournament. After their first match he wore a T-shirt with the
slogan 'Peace in our Country', asserting, “We want to use football as a tool to
restore peace in Mali and we can only do that by winning our matches. I feel
happy that we won our first game and I dedicate it towards the efforts to bring
peace back home.”
The team set up a five-day camp in Bamako
before the tournament in an effort to restore calm in the country. As coach
Patrice Carteron explained, “We stayed in Bamako for five days and thousands of
people came to watch our training every day. I wanted them to feel something
positive and we were happy that they were motivated.”
On a similar theme striker Modibo Maiga
said following the quarter-final, “Our biggest motivation is to make Malian
people and all the supporters happy.”
Mali is not the only troubled African
nation in recent times to enjoy unexpected success on the football field.
Following the Arab Spring in 2011, the results of most North African nations
improved dramatically, with Sudan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia qualifying for
the 2012 African Cup of Nations. Similarly Greece performed admirably at Euro
2012 against a backdrop of civil unrest and the Syrian Under 23 side were one
game from qualifying from the London 2012 Olympics.
Whilst Mali has not undergone a full-scale
revolution, the conflict of the past 12 months have affected the entire population
and the recent performances of the national football team have coincided with
moves towards a resolution of the troubles at home. The Malian footballers are
clearly motivated by the potential of bringing success and hope to their people
at a troubled time in the country’s history, while the prospect of a first ever
international tournament victory is providing an unexpected boost to the Malian
fans in the midst of conflict.
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