Drame: No matter the conditions, Mali U17 go out to win

Hadji Drame of Mali

Monday Oct 23, 2017. 10:00

Malian Under-17 international Hadji Drame is happy to have fired the Junior Eagles into the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup semi-finals.

There was much disquiet behind the scenes prior to kick-off at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday, as 48 hours of incessant rain threatened to cast doubt on the quarter-final match between Mali and Ghana.

This sense of uncertainty did not affect the players in the Malian dressing room, however. Mali beat their Ghana counterparts 2-1 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, India on Saturday.

“The weather is not something we worry about,” Drame told FIFA.com.

The 17-year-old striker opened the scoring for Mali in the 15th minute, before Djemoussa Traore made it 2-0 in the 61st minute. Mohammed Kudus netted for Ghana in the 70th minute.

“No matter the conditions, we go out onto the pitch with the intention of winning. We played well and used the ball intelligently,” he continued.

“Ghana played a lot of high balls, so we tried our best to get the ball back down on the deck. We kept our heads, and that made the difference in the end.”

Mali, who finished second in the 2015 U17 World Cup finals, will face Spain in the semi-final clash at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, India on Wednesday