Mali vs Botswana

Earlier this year, Mali defeated Botswana in an African Cup of Nations (AFCON) group stage game, en route to a third place finish. Now, Mali and Botswana meet again in a playoff, with the winner qualifying for AFCON 2013 in South Africa.

Mali will be looking to reach AFCON for the seventh time since 1994, and Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita has been the captain to lead the country. Keita has scored 19 goals in 72 appearances for his country, and will be looking to play in his sixth AFCON tournament. Since 2000, Keita has been responsible for Mali’s success in AFCON, with his two goals against Angola in AFCON 2010 as the signature moment in a game which ended in a 4-4 tie after Mali was down 4-0 against the hosts.

Keita scored the game winning goal against Botswana in AFCON 2012 in Libreville, Gabon. In the quarterfinal against Gabon, Keita scored the winning penalty kick against after Chieck Diabete had scored five minutes from regulation. Diabete helped Mali to its best finish in the AFCON since 1972, when he scored all three goals in the knockout stages: the other two goals came against Ghana in the third-place game.

Mali’s surprising 2-0 victory against Ghana may seem like a real surprise. However, that surprise does not pale in comparison to the odyssey Botswana completed over the past two years.

Prior to the start of qualifying for AFCON 2012, Botswana had won only three away games in AFCON qualifying. However, Botswana began their qualifying campaign with a shocking 1-0 upset at Tunisia, with Jerome Ramatlhakwane scoring the first of his five goals. The nation only scored seven goals in qualifying, but all of Botswana’s eight qualifying game had been close. 

Botswana won four qualifiers by 1-0, the third which came in Chad on March 26, 2011.  When Botswana won in Chad, they qualified for AFCON 2012 faster than any other team, aside from the co-hosts.

Dipsy Selowane scored Botswana’s first goal in a major competition, while Mogakolodi Ngele scored to tie the game against Mali in AFCON. However, Botswana struggled in its debut and lost all three games, being outscored 9-2, six of which came in their second group stage game, despite the fact that Botswana still had a chance to reach the knockout stage.

Prior to AFCON 2012, Mali and Botswana had only met for qualifying for AFCON 1996. Mali defeated Botswana in both previous meetings: 3-1 in Gaborone, Botswana on January 8, 1995 and 4-0 in Bamako, Mali on July 16, 1995.

Since AFCON 2012, Botswana has had mixed results. After a 3-0 victory against Lesotho, Botswana tied Iraq 1-1. Botswana has struggled in World Cup qualifying. Botswana lost to the Central African Republic 2-0 and tied AFCON 2013 host South Africa 1-1. Mali has had mixed results as well. After losing a 2-1 friendly to the Ivory Coast, Mali began World Cup qualifying with a head-scratching 1-0 loss in Benin. Mali would rebound days later with a 2-1 victory over Algeria.

By reaching AFCON 2012, both clubs have had the luxury of a bye for qualifying. Both teams had also met in the same group. Now, which nation will go to AFCON 2013? The answer will come in October.