By Osaro Matthew
The Les Aigles of Mali on Friday afternoon defeated Argentina 3-0 to clinch bronze at the FIFA U17 World Cup with Ibrahim Diarra, Mamadou Doumbia and Hamidou Makalou all getting on the scoresheet for the West African country, platinumnewsng.com is reporting..
The match held at the Manahan Stadium, Indonesia on Friday, December 1 saw Mali take the lead with a ninth minute goal from Ibrahim Diarra.
Coach Soumaila Coulibaly side went into the second half beaming with confidence after Mamadou Doumbia made it two seconds before the break. Three minutes into the second half, Hamidou Makalou netted the third.
Mali put in a wonderful performance in the U17 World Cup from the group stage to finish third. Qualifying from Group B with six points on second spot behind table toppers Spain, Mali trashed Mexico 5-0 in the round of 16 to face their African counterpart Morocco in the Quarter Final.
It was a difficult match for Mali as their African brothers proved a tough nut to crack nut. The breakthrough came in the 81st minute strike from Ibrahim Diarra to book a semifinal place where they faced France.
After taking the lead before the break with a goal from the top scorer Ibrahim Diarra, France restored parity with a 57th minute strike from Yvann Tito after Soulemane Sanogo of Mail was sent off.
Ismail Bouneb made it two for France as they defeated Mail to book their place in the final to face Germany who defeated Argentina on penalties.
With Senegal, Burkina Faso and Morocco failing to win a not going beyond in the 2023 U17 World Cup, Mali becomes the African Nation with the most promising young talents.
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