Nouhoum: Impossible is nothing for Mali

by Staff Reporter

Tuesday Jan 17, 2023. 13:14

Mali head coach Diane Nouhoum hailed his side’s never-say-die attitude after the 3-3 draw with Angola at the 2022 Africa Nations Championships on Monday.

The Eagles battled back from behind on two occasions to earn a share of the spoils in their Group D opener at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran.

Depu (12′, 26′) had twice given the Black Antelopes the lead and Gilberto (72′) added a third, with Hamidou Sinayoko (23′) initially restoring parity before Yoro Diaby (79′) and Ousmane Coulibaly (83′) struck late on to keep the West Africans’ tournament hopes alive.

Nouhoum expressed pride in his players for not throwing in the towel as the point meant that Mali have now gone four editions without losing their opening game at CHAN.

“Impossible is nothing. We Malians do not give up,” he declared after the match. “We kept believing even when the odds were against us in the game. We kept fighting and we eventually got a positive result in this very tough game.

“We came back from behind and this is the best thing that I can ask from my team. Of course, we have a different team from the one that reached the final two years ago in Cameroon, but we are proud of today’s performance.”

Nouhoum will now turn his focus to next Tuesday’s clash against Mauritania at the same venue in a bid to secure top spot in the group.