African Cup of Nations 2012: Mali Preview

Factbox on African Nations Cup finalists Mali (Group D):

African Nations Cup record





Previous appearances in finals: 6

Best performance: Runners-up 1972





Coach: Alain Giresse played in the World Cup finals with France and was a member of their European Championship winning side in 1984. His coaching career has been much less distinguished with spells at Toulouse and Paris St Germain in Ligue 1 and overseas assignments at Royal Armed Forces of Morocco, Georgia's national team, Gabon and Mali. He took Gabon to the last Nations Cup finals but was fired after they narrowly missed out on the last eight.





Key players:

Seydou Keita (Barcelona). Age: 32. Pos: Midfielder





Keita was a teenage prodigy at Olympique Marseille but failed to deliver on his early promise and spent time at Lorient and Racing Lens gaining experience, before moving to Spain in 2007. His transfer from Sevilla to Barcelona in May 2008 was valued at some 14-million Euros. Keita hails from a strong family pedigree, as his uncle Salif Keita was the first-ever African Footballer of the Year in 1970 and Keita himself finished runner-up in 2011.

Modibo Maiga (Sochaux). Age: 24. Pos: Striker





Free-scoring striker whose failed medical test scuppered a proposed move to Newcastle United this month. He has been in dispute with struggling Sochaux in recent months over his desire to move to England. Played at the last Nations Cup finals in 2010 and has played at Raja Casablanca in Morocco and Le Mans in France.





Abdou Traore (Girondins Bordeaux). Age: 23. Pos: Midfielder

A member of Girondins Bordeaux's youth academy, who was given his debut in the first team in a UEFA Cup tie in 2007. Played his first match for Mali just two years later and was in the squad at the last Nations Cup tournament in Angola. FIFA world ranking Dec 2011: 67th





Prospects: Mali were among the fancied sides at the last Nations Cup because of the presence of genuine world stars in Mahamadou Diarra, Seydou Keita, Frederic Kanoute and Momo Sissoko. But they flopped under the burden of expectation, crashing out in the first round. This time round only Keita remains and is the new leader of a younger group of players who will likely find competing easier without the constraints of being among the favourites.