Botswana vow to go down fighting against Mali

Routed 6- 1 in their second Group D game against Guinea, Botswana are out of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. But the team, nicknamed the Zebras, say they plan to tear a stripe off Mali before they go.

Reuters/Louafi Larbi

Even in his despair after seeing his team thrashed 6-1, the Botswana coach Stanley Tshosane issued a defiant order: “No one did us any favours for us to get here. We worked to get here so Mali will have to work hard for what they want.”

Typically forthright for a former soldier and army team coach. but Tshosane will have to battle with fatigue and disappointment to rouse his troops before Wednesday’s game.

“We had a plan for the three games in the group stages and to get to the quarter finals,” he added. “The last eight is not going to happen now so we’ll change our mindset into at least leaving this country with a victory. We’ll be going all out against Mali.”

And the side will have nothing to lose against a Mali team that needs to win handsomely and hope that Ghana overturn Guinea.

The mathematical permutations for the final round of games arose after Ghana beat Mali 2-0.

As it stands going into Wednesday’s matches, Ghana have six points followed by Guinea and Mali on three points. Guinea have the better goal difference thanks to their annihilation of Botswana .

For the Guinea coach Michel Dussouyer, the win gives his side a hope of a quarter final slot.

“We did not want to go back home,” he said. “We all know we can play good football and I think the players showed that in the first game against Mali but we weren’t that lucky and lost.

“I’m satisfied with the game against Botswana because we scored lots of goals and created many more opportunities to score. It is a good result because Botswana is a good team - they showed that in the qualifying rounds.”

But mastering a Botswana side experiencing its first African Cup of Nations and achieving a positive result against Ghana, beaten finalists in 2010 and world cup quarter finalists 18 months ago, are polar opposites.

Dussouyer added: “For us Ghana will be a final. I have got so much respect for them as they have demonstrated a very high level and have great players as they have shown in big tournaments. The players respect them but we want to win and qualify for the quarter finals.”

It will be a fearsome assignment for Guinea’s impressive mix of youthful brio and wily campaigners.

With the mercurial Pascal Feindouno pulling the strings in midfield and Bobo Baldé forming a human dyke at the back, the spine of the team has always been solid.

Sadio Diallo showed enterprise and promise against Mali and his movement against Botswana to take his two goals was exemplary.

The 21-year-old’s understanding with midfielders Ibrahima Traoré and Abdoul Razzagui Camara could be the key to the game against Ghana .

Guinea skipper Kamil Zayatte said: “It will be a big test for us but we will play with our qualities. We want to do well and play at the next level of the competition. We’ll try to do everything to get the three points.”

The exploits of the co-hosts Equatorial Guinea and Gabon who have beaten more feted teams have served as an inspiration.

Squads considered as competition makeweights have shed their inhibitions and teams tagged as favourites have appeared slow to appreciate the reappraised aspirations of their putative inferiors.

Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan admitted that the squad was working hard to take nothing for granted especially after the premature falls of Senegal and Morocco:“Any country that plays against Ghana comes in very strong. For example we managed to keep our composure against Mali and showed our character.”

The game against Mali also helped the 26-year-old Al-Ain attacker to emerge from the shadows. Hailed as one of Africa’s star strikers, he was quiet in the first match against Botswana and well-shackled by the Malian defence for more than an hour in his second outing.

Then he stepped up for a free kick and curled it over the wall into the top right hand corner.

So are legends adorned.

“Sometimes I take free kicks but I’m unlucky. On this particular one my instincts told me I had to go and take it," he explained. "People had been taking the others and it had not been going right so I had to take responsibility. Sometimes as an attacker you have to take responsibility. That’s what I did … great goal.”

Indeed. And why not allow the man a moment of jaunty self-congratulation. It injected zest into the attacker and forced Mali to forage for an equaliser. But the game was effectively over after Gyan’s cute back-heel played in André Ayew who foxed a couple of defenders before lashing the ball into the net.

“It was a good game for the team and me personally,” said Ayew. “A lot of people put question marks around Ghana after we beat Botswana 1-0.

“We’ve proved that we are a big team in Africa and we need to continue to prove that. We have to stay focused and continue fighting. Next up is Guinea and we have to take it seriously and qualify for the quarter finals.”

A last eight at the African Cup of Nations without Ghana would be a strange turnaround for a side that was a Gyan penalty kick away from the semi-final of the world cup.

But cycles puncture self-inflation. As the eight quarter final teams are harvested, an impression has taken substance. The old bloc of achievers is failing to impose the awe of yesteryear.

Rising football nations and countries which have historically lived on the second level are producing a bounty of players who, though not all likely to become the next Drogba, Keita, Gyan or Eto’o, are efficient, obedient units.

A revolution in the continent’s approach to football would gather pace if a clone team of starless wonders were to seriously threaten or even rip apart the outfits stitched around the euro-rich prima donnas.

Equatorial Guinea, the lowest ranked team in the competition, caused ructions with their 1-0 opening day win over Libya and their subsequent conquest of Senegal . The next fortnight will reveal the extent of those repercussions.