Botswana were the surprise team of the first round of matches when they gave World Cup quarter-finalists Ghana a run for their money on Tuesday. Even though the Zebras lost 1-0, they proved that they were not pushovers and showed how much the smaller African countries have developed. They could not keep that momentum up in their second match, however, as Guinea thrashed the Zebras 6-1 following the sending off of Patrick Motsepe.

Mali got their 2012 Afcin campaign off to a flying start with a 1-0 victory over neighbours Guinea in Franceville to join Ghana at the top of Group D following the first round of matches, but the Eagles were brought down to earth when the Black Stars beat them 2-0 in the second game, leaving them on three points ahead of their match with the Zebras.

While for Botswana there is little more than pride on the line, due to the fact that they have no points after two games, Mali are in with a good chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, as they will continue in the tournament if they beat their opponents. Guinea face Ghana and are currently on the same points as the Malians, so if they were to both win, Mali would progress due to their 1-0 win over the side in their first Afcon match. If the Eagles were to lose or draw, however, they would need Ghana to do them a favour against Guinea in the other Group D fixture.

Botswana substitute Patrick Motsepe was sent off against Guinea for a dangerous tackle on Pascal Feindouno, so he will be suspended for the encounter. Mali had issues with injuries on the eve of the tournament, losing midfielder Kalilou Traore and defender Mohamed Fofana, but replacements Ousmane Berthe and Souleymane Keita have done well, and the squad is not suffering from any major injury concerns ahead of this match.

anthems

game on

freekick mali.

stupid freekick . .crazy rebound kick nonsense!

phew what a miss by botswana

see miss o

erm una wan wound seydou keita

gooaaal

botswana score

mali equalise 1-1

mali  gooaaal

1 -1

fredddddioooooooo

mukina2:

fredddddioooooooo

mukiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Mali will carry d day

fredooooooo

u nor well  

i want mali to score 2 more goals  

yes yes mali 2-1 , keita dey there , they must win am with you Muki

yes yes yes

now guinea  has to score

red card for them though sucks

Game over

Mali 2 Botswana 1

Abeg Mali should win this game by all means.

since ghana has a red card now, they should better be careful.

but anyways it always their pattern to get red cards

mali qualify , how many nations cup keita don play ,

How can Mali qualify? oh they beat Guinea right? this is a shame to Nigeria that the country that eliminated us couldn't even make it pass group stage

^ i bet if Nigeria qualified we would av eliminated with the max. of a point