The Mena hope to open their
campaign with better
showing than in 2012 Last edition's bronze medal
winners will take on their
fellow west Africans in the
second Group B game, and
will be aiming for a sizeable
lead ahead of their next opposition.
Mali, who finished third at the
2012 Africa Cup of Nations,
experienced an important
reshuffle before the departure of
Alain Giresse, whom the local
press still considers as the coach who revived the country's
modern football, leading the
Eagles to the podium 40 years
after their silver finish in 1972. A couple of players have also left
the outfit due to injury, declining
form and age, such as former
captain Cedric Kante, Mamadou
Diarra of Fulham and Bordeaux
midfielder Abdou Traore. However, the present squad still boasts of
top regulars such as current
captain Seydou Keita, Cheick
Diabate, Modibo Maiga and Adama
Tamboura, who were also part of
the 2012 success. New coach Patrice Carteron says
his main contribution since
arriving in July has been the
upkeep of the team's strength
and ambition. Although the outfit
did not enrol competitive sides for friendlies as part of their
groundwork for South Africa
2013, the Frenchman believes
that they enjoyed a satisfactory
preparation altogether at home
in Mali, where armed conflict is under way between loyalists and
Islamic forces. This has also been a
source of concern for most of the
players, who have confessed
fears for their family members. Mali will be aiming to snag three
points over Niger to smooth their
path to the upcoming cracker
against Ghana, however, they will
practice caution and respect for
the Mena who ousted a plucky Guinean team to book their place. Niger officials say their team went
to their first Afcon last year to
learn and receive exposure, but
this time the boys are coming to
show the continent what they
learned at the 2012 showpiece, and the status they now deserve. former Gabon coach Gernot Rohr
was appointed early in 2012 and
tasked with qualifying Niger for
their second Nations Cup, but
Guinea stood as a massive hurdle
in the final round qualifying, which he surmounted 2-1 on aggregate
to the surprise of many pundits,
proving that the Mena are no
longer the hitherto pushover
minnows. Niger will endeavour to hinder Mali
from imposing a fluid construction
by buckling the Eagles' efforts,
especially in the midfield by using
a very defensive style, which has
highly favoured them recently. Team captain Moussa Maazou,
Issoufou Dante and Abdoulkarim
Lancina will play deep as usual,
hoping to wreak havoc on the
Malians at the slightest
opportunity. DID YOU KNOW? Mali played their first international match against
the Central African Republic
on April 13, 1960, which ended
4-3 in favour of the Eagles. Mali's biggest win was against
Mauritania in 1970, which
ended 11-0, while their worst
defeat was against Algeria
7-0 in November 1988. Mali have never qualified for
the Fifa World Cup. Mali have the highest number
of African professionals in
Europe after Senegal and
Cote d'Ivoire. TheNiger Football Federation was able to raise $4 million
(€3m) for the team to cover
preparations and bills for the
2013 Africa Cup of Nations. The Niger national team is
known as the Mena. Niger had their highest Fifa
ranking at 68th position in
1994 and are currently
ranked 97 in the world after
gaining places recently. Niger had their biggest win in
1990 against Mauritania,
ending 7-1 in their favour.