FIFA U-17 World Cup: Mali master conditions, Ghana in quarterfinal

Mali players celebrate their quarterfinal win over Ghana. (Source: PTI)

You can blame it on the conditions. Or the lack of experience. But Ibrahim Danlad will probably blame himself. The 14-year-old had barely put a foot wrong the entire evening despite the unplayable conditions. Until he made a mindless charge out of the penalty box in the 61st minute. A Mali player lobbed the ball forward from his half in the hope of catching Ghana on the counter-attack. Danlad tried to play a sweeper ’keeper, stepping off his line to reach the ball before the forward. But he miss-kicked the ball, which fell at Traore’s feet.

He took a couple of touches, looked up and saw Danlad was struggling to get back to his position. So from 25 yards out on the left, he curled in a shot. A Ghanaian defender was on the line to head the ball to safety but Danlad thought otherwise. Off balance and out of position, the six-foot-plus goalkeeper tried to palm the ball away. Instead, he deflected straight into his own net. Danlad buried his face in his hands while his teammates stared at him in disbelief.

It allowed Mali to double their lead and although Ghana pulled one goal back late in the second half, that horrendous error ultimately proved to be the decisive factor as the last edition’s runners-up won 2-1 to become the first team to enter the semifinals of the under-17 World Cup. Mali will play the winner of Sunday’s quarterfinal between Spain and Iran. It’s been quite a journey for the African under-17 champions, who have silently gone about their job in this tournament. They began their campaign with a 3-2 defeat to Paraguay but have improved with every passing game. Saturday’s match wasn’t just about skills or strength, which both teams had in abundance. Incessant downpour in Guwahati meant the playing conditions deteriorated by the minute. The pitch was water-logged and there was a genuine concern of the match being postponed.

However, just half hour before kick-off, it was decided to play and although the rain had reduced marginally, the damage to the surface was already done. It resulted in a scrappy affair from the first whistle, with the players struggling to string together passes and their feet repeatedly getting stuck in the ground. Mali were the quicker of the two teams to adjust. They did not take any chance defensively and thumped the ball out of play, or up the field, every time it was played near their penalty area. Up front, they used their strength to win the 50-50 battles. Ghana had no answer to Mali’s speed and intelligent play. Traore was incisive on the left flank, Salam Jiddou bossed the centre while Fode Konate and Hadji Drame were destructive on the right. As the son of renowned coach back home, Drame has always been under more spotlight than his peers. And more often than not, the forward has lived up to the expectations. He scored thrice in Mali’s under-17 African Cup of Nations win and has already matched that tally in this tournament.

On Saturday, Drame gave Mali the lead in 15th minute. Jiddou played a through ball from the centre. Drame had a heavy first touch but he used his upper body strength to run past two Ghanaian defenders before finally taking a shot. You’d have expected Danlad, the winner of the golden glove at under-17 African Championship, to save that one. But such was the power behind Drame’s shot that Danlad was beaten at the near post.

The conditions worsened as the match progressed and it reflected in the quality of play. The passes, at times, did not reach their intended recipient as the ball got stuck in the surface and there was little goal-mouth action. Mali had 21 shots at goal but just four on target while Ghana hit the target thrice out of the eight attempts they had. The decision of Ghana coach Samuel Fabin to bench influential midfielder Sadiq Ibrahim was puzzling, considering the impact he had immediately after coming in the 55th minute. Ibrahim won a penalty in the 70th minute, which was converted by Kudus Mohammed. That proved to be a mere consolation. Danlad’s howler nine minutes earlier had sealed Ghana’s fate.