Four star Mali see off Botswana
Botswana crumbled under the pressure to make it two year’s running out of the African Cup of Nations when they failed to qualify at the hands of a determined Mali side who took no prisoners in a 4-1 win in Lobatse.
Botswana had the daunting task of having to overturn a three goal deficit inflicted on them in the first leg of the qualifiers in Mali in hope of securing progression.
The first twenty minutes brought little to no action between the two teams, with Mali looking to keep a hold of the well worked aggregate lead.
But they couldn’t resist minutes later when they broke the deadlock through Chieck Diabete who became the man behind the moment for the visitors.
There was little motivation for Botswana to come out firing in the second half after they faced an even steeper uphill battle from the first half goal.
It certainly proved to be the case as a determined Mali side didn’t back down when they added their second of the day in the 57th minute. This time it was Modibo Maiga who found the back of the net.
It quickly went from bad to worse for Botswana when despite having hit the woodwork, the ball was back on the other side of the field and into their goalkeeper’s net, with a 72nd minute strike.
It swiftly became a demolition of Botswana when a fourth was added eight minutes from the final whistle, but the final minutes saw a late consolation strike for the Zebras when they netted five minutes later.
