Mali to play for pride

Today’s Fixtures (Group B) Gambia vs Ivory Coast (Kigali Regional stadium)Congo vs Mali (Umuganda stadium) RUBAVU - Mali coach Diame Samake Nouhoum has vowed to win the last match of the Group B against Congo Brazzaville to salvage some pride for his team which has already been eliminated from the tournament. The Malians were the first team to jet in for the championship and will certainly be one of the first teams to leave after disappointing results in their opening two group games. The team is still chasing for its first points after back to back defeats against Ivory Coast 1-2 and Gambia 0-1 but Nouhoum has backed his boys to come good this afternoon when they play the Congolese at Umuganda stadium in Rubavu. While Mali has been one of the exciting teams as regards technical ability, their finishing has let them down but Nouhoum is desperate to salvage some pride against Congo Brazzaville who raised eyebrows following their shocking 3-0 triumph over defending champions Gambia last weekend. “We were unfortunate not to score goals in the first two matches. We dominated possession but poor finishing let us down so that is one area will we try to improve tomorrow (today),” he said. Group B P W D L F A Pts Congo 2 1 1 0 5 2 4Ivory Coast 2 1 1 0 4 3 4Gambia 2 1 0 1 1 3 3Mali 2 0 0 2 1 3 0 Ends

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Mali to play for pride