After the semi-final match between Mali and Ivory Coast which was settled by a solitary Gervinho strike Cafonline:com caught up with some of the players:
Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast striker ): “We expected a tough game. Mali is a great team with a great coach. They knocked out the co-hosts (Gabon) who had a very good team . Our goal was not to concede goals and with the forwards we have, every moment, we can make a difference. We did not doubt. The goals can come from anywhere: Yaya (Toure), Gervais (Gervinho), Didier (Drogba), myself. We can score at any time it’s an advantage we have on many other teams in this tournament. The final be beautiful against Zambia. We will now prepare again to meet our target. We must digest the semi-finals and Sunday will be another match. “
Didier Ya Konan ( Ivory Coast striker): “We are very pleased to have reached the final and this is for all Ivorian people. I returned at the end of game. This is a semi-final, and it is not easy. Mali Mali is good team .Gervais scored a fine goal and we were able to manage the rest of the match “.
Adama Tamboura (Mali defender): “We’re a little disappointed by tonight’s result and defeat. We are proud to have reached this level. We must now try to take the positives from it all and targeting finishing third. We made a mistake, they scored,
that’s football. “
Cedric Kante (Mali defender and captain): “The disappointment is great. It was a tough game and we fought hard but it wasn’t to be . We knew it would come down to small margins. We made a little mistake and they scored through a good player Gervinho . We knew they had big personalities while we have a young team that lacks experience, a team like Ivory Coast will not leave mistakes unpunished because they have quality players. We do not have any regrets about the game tonight because we gave everything. If you told us three weeks ago we would be contesting for third place l would have been happy, we will take this match seriously as it is an international match and we and to win it. Players, who have not had the opportunity to play will do so there is a chance to be on the podium of a major tournament, it does not happen every day but every two years so we will make the most of it. ”
