Mali’s never-say-die attitude saw the West Africans salvage a point in what could have easily been a victory over Israel in their opening match of the Paris 2024 Men’s Football Competition on Wednesday evening.
Making their second Olympics appearance since their quarter-final finish on debut two decades ago, the Eagles kicked off their campaign with an impressive showing that saw them come from behind to salvage a point at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris.
While getting a point gives the West Africans a fairly good start, the result was certainly not a true reflection of the tie, with Mali dominating most of the possession but just lacking the clinical finish when it mattered the most.
Cheikna Doumbia, who found the equaliser for the Malians, was a constant threat for the West African nation, threatening to open the scoring charts as early as the 4th minute with a fierce strike that was saved from close range.
Failing to capitalise on most of their possession, Israel punished the West Africans 10 minutes from the break after Diallo Hamidou’s unfortunate own goal from an attempted clearance gave the Israelites the lead in the 55th minute.
Despite the concession, Mali continued surging forward, launching attack after attack and showing no sign of discouragement from the own goal.
Their relentlessness was duly rewarded after the troublesome Diarra Thiemoko eliminated numbers to send a delightful ball into the danger area, which was met by the oncoming Doumbia, who headed home to level matters and salvage a point for Mali.
The result puts Mali third in the group with two more matches to go against group leaders, Japan, as well as Paraguay, who lost 5-0 to Japan in the earlier fixture.
