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The National Sports Teams of Mali can be broadly categorized into three divisions. They are the Mali National Football Team, The Mali National Tennis team also known as the Davis Cup Team and The Mali National Basketball team.
The Mali National Football Team
The Mali National Football Team is also nicknamed as Les Aigles or (The Eagles). It is controlled by Federation Malienne de Football, or the Malian Soccer Federation founded in 1960. It gained FIFA affiliation in 1962. Malians are mad and passionate about football. It is indeed an irony that Mali was unable to qualify in the World Cup till 2006. The performance of the National Football team is also not very impressive in the Africa Nations Cup. Its best performance was in 1972, when the team ranked second in the Africa Nations Cup.
The Mali National football team achieved a spectacular win when it defeated Mauritania 6-0. The first international win was when it defeated the Central African team 4-3 in May 1975. Mali is a two times champion and 4 times runner up in the Amilcar Cabral Cup. Former, French football player Jean-Francois Jodar is the Head Coach currently managing the National Football Team. The captain of the team is Mahamadou Diarra. He is an exceptionally talented player who has represented Mali in both National and International matches. The National Football team of Mali has produced a pool of talents and famous players like Salif Keita and Mamdou Keita.
Mali National Davis Cup Team
Mali's best Davis cup results came in 2001, finishing second in Pool B of Europe/ Africa Group IV, narrowly missing to gain the final position. In 2004 also the team competed in the Davis Cup. Madou Keita, Yaya Traore, Amadou Deallo, Bakary Kaimissoko are some of the renowned players in the Davis Cup circuit who have been playing since a long time.
Mali National Basketball Team
The National Basketball team in Mali is divided into three categories according to the age. They are The National Team Senior, The National Team U20, National Team U18 and National Team U16. The Women National Basketball Team of Mali is also performing well with extraordinary players like Maiga, Sininta and Toure. Mali is the only African team to represent the U21 World Championship in basketball.
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