FIFA U-20 World Cup – Mali Coach Blames Lack of Confidence for Loss

Daily Independent (Lagos)

3 August 2011

Mali coach Cheik Fantamady Diallo has blamed lack of confidence for the team’s 2-0 loss to Colombia in the ongong FIFA -20 World Cup in Colombia. The West African sides also lost its first match 2-0 to South Korea putting its qualification for the second round on a tight rope.

“We’ve doubted ourselves a lot since our first defeat in the competition,” he said.

“We’ve lost to a very good side of Colombia backed by its fans which gave them a lot of confidence.”

Rodriguez wrapped up the points for the Colombians just moments after Kalifa Traore was dismissed for a second bookable offence in the 89th minute.

The 42,000-strong sellout crowd produced non-stop noise with vuvuzelas – made infamous in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – and exploding fireworks to welcome the team to the field.

He admitted it will be tough for them to advance after the two defeats.

Mali needs at least a 2-0 win over France in their final group game on Saturday to stand any chance at all of advancing as one of the four best third-placed teams.

“Even if we win the next game, we haven’t scored any goals so far – it will be very difficult,” the coach said.

“We’re hoping to win against France and snatch the opportunity to be one of the best four.”

Diallo says poor preparation for the tournament has hampered their efforts.

“The world cup is a serious competition and we didn’t get the type of preparation such a competition requires,” he lamented.

“We should have come close to Bogota weeks before the kick-off to get used to the altitude and the weather.”

In other games, Cameroon lost their second Group B game 1-0 to Portugal while France which lost its opening match 4-1 to Spain beat South Korea 3-1 on Tuesday.

Striker Nelson Oliveira scored in the 19th minute to give Portugal their 1-0 victory over 10-man Cameroon.

Cameroon played the final 19 minutes with 10 men after defender Ghislain Mvom was red carded for kicking Caetano.

In Tuesday’s other Group B game Uruguay outplayed New Zealand from the start but the game ended 1-1.

All four sides can still make it through to the next round ahead of Friday’s final group matches that see Cameroon play Uruguay and Portugal take on New Zealand.

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