The-Shot.Net Writers Club - Mali

Feb 11 1800 GMT Mali - Morocco 0:4 (final score)

before the match:
Mali are only there because they were able to exploit the blunders in their quarter finals opponents defence, while being outplayed the rest of the match. Their big assest is striker Frederic Kanoute who is able to make goals out of little, something that can turn matches.Apart from that they are solid, not more. Morocco is a different type of opponent to them than what they have faced so far. Although from their basic concept the North Africans are not far away from the idea Senegal are applying, in one to one they are certainly not the same.
Morocco on the other hand have already faced Nigeria and Benin from the Western Region. Against Nigeria, playing at their limits, they were able to come up with a good defence and counter game and had more of most of the match. But against Benin they obviously had troubles making the game themselves, especially in midfield where Benin seemed to impose a little superiority in one on one situations. Running might have been a little less on the side of Morocco in that game, eventually they won high, but only thanks to particular errors in the Benin defence, especially by the goalkeeper.
Both are not famous for risky attacking strategies, so that this might be a low scoring match, or / and depending on defensive errors.

1st half:
-Mali in all white, Morocco in all green, Hadji is beginning in the place of Zairi
-'1-'10
-Morocco with domination so far, but final touches like passes fre kicks, corners, still off target
-('14) Morocco: Mokhtari with a curved but fast free kick into the far corner from 20 meters, half right - 0:1
-'masked': two other players suggested somebody else would execute, the execution by Mokhtari might have been a little surprising and so leaving the keeper less reaction time
-('17) Mali: dangerous free kick cross but Kanoute can't get to it
-('22) Morocco with a dangerous attack, have to settle for a corner
-Morocco dominate between the penalty areas, running, trying to create superior number of players where the ball is, playing fast
-('27) Mali have a half dangerous free kick cross anyway
-('31) Mali: Dramane Traoré takes a rebound directly, but his shot is not very hard and the Moroccan keeper can save well
-Mali have found into the game a little better, passing the ball around more quickly, start to dominate midfield themselves
-Morocco are back to counter attitude
-('37) a little scuffle breaks out after a foul, calmed by the referee, who seems to have some problems in the crowd of players because he is a bit smaller
-('38) the Moroccan keeper, is he cautioned(?) for delaying of game. he might seek a rest for his players who ran a lot in the opening 30 minutes and now have lost the grip on the match
-('45) Malian defenders do well to contain a counter attack 2 vs 2
-('45+2) Mali: 28 meter free kick into the wall

halftime 0:1
Morocco with very good 15 minutes in which they did a lot of running to give them superiority in midfield. After that the match slowly turned and Mali became more and more dominant. But as long clearcut chances are rare on both sides it will be difficult for them to score.
They will hope for the physical factor work even more in their favour in the second part of the second half.

2nd half:
-('48) Mali threaten the goal after a free kick cross, but have to settle for a corner
-('49) Morocco are half dangerous, too, after a quickly taken throw in
-('50) Mali: huge opportunity as a free kick cross from the left finds #5 Thiam unmarked. But the cross has been a bit in his back, so he can't make his header on target
-('56) Mali: a second time Mali get Thiam free on a set piece, when in a designed pattern all attackers run away from a crowd, followed by their markers. On the spot alone remains Thiam, but his header is right on the keeper
-('58) But it's Morocco who score out of the blue from the right hand corner of the penaly area. Mokhtari takes two steps to the inside and fires. It is a bouncing shot into the far corner that makes the keeper look bad - 0:2
-to the excuse of the keeper: it has been very accuarate and sharp
-('59) Mali: a showcase flying save stops a Kanoute header
-'60-'69
-Morocco have gained confidence through the goal and Mali have lost organisation a bit in hectical attacking attempts. Hallf dangerous Morocco counter situatons are the consequence
-('70) Mali: spectacular scene after an indirectly taken Coulibaly free kick. the first shot gets deflected, then block, a second attempt (by Keita?) is denied a goal by a great one hand save by the keeper
-Fouhami has been a great keeper during this tournament
-('76) Mali: free kick, 25 m, after several failure by S.Coulibaly, this time Diarra tries - into the wall
-Mali running behind desperate and the more they are, the more confident are the Moroccan moves
-('80) a counter attack, played from the left to the right wing, from where Chamakh makes a perfect cross into the free space in front of the goal, that only Hadji can reach - he does and with one touch puts it into the far corner - 0:3
-('89) Mali: free kick S.Coulibaly, dangerous, but intercepted by a defender
-('90) Mali: Diarra starts to lose control and is lucky he is not seriously punished by the referee for his kick against a Moroccan player
-(90+1) Morocco so confident, everything works now, #9 who has come in as a substitute fires from 20 meters into the upper right corner after a corner. A nice shot but should have been saved by the keeper. - 0:4
-final whistle: a few players on both sides crying in emotional outburst after the final whistle

final score 0:4

the second Mokhtari goal decided the match when Mali were close to taking the match over. After that Mali lost organisation, calm while Morocco played from confidence alone. The Malian keeper helped a little and so the scoreline is a bit deceiving. What is a statement is the 0 goals for Mali, because it refers to almost 0 clearcut opportunities allowed by the Naybet mastered defence.