Malians to camp in South Africa
Malians to camp in South Africa
Posted: 2011-05-23 15:40
Mali national team coach Alain Giresse has chosen South Africa to prepare for the return match away to Zimbabwe during matchday four of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Mali will spend five days from Monday, May 30, to Friday, June 3, preparing in South Africa before heading to Harare where they meet hosts Zimbabwe on June 5 at Rufaro Stadium.
Since the first leg on March 26 in Bamako,which Mali won 1-0, Giresse has been in contact with his players and monitoring them.
“Daily monitoring allows us to be in a good position to plan ahead. I hope that until the match day, there will be no surprise health issues with our players,” he says.
The Eagles coach adds: “The problem is that there already has been too much football played by some of these players. I fear for [Mahamadou] Diarra and other players at this time the end of a long season.”
The concern of the coach is legitimate given that currently the injury list in the Eagles camp growing. In addition to the injury to captain Mahamadou Diarra, others to add to that list now include midfielders Lorient Sigamari Diarra and Nice, Drissa Diakite.
For now one thing is certain, captain Mahamadou Diarra will not play the Harare game.
However, there is a good chance that newly crowned Spanish League champion Seydou Keita of Barcelona, who has not worn the Eagles jersey since the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, is sure to be on the list that the coach will unveil on Tuesday, May 24.
After three matches the Eagles occupy second place in Group A, behind Cape Verde and then Zimbabwe and Liberia.
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