Mali were denied an early ticket to the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations last Sunday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by a spirited Gambia side.

In a cagey affair, Ibrahima Kone scored what seemed to be the winner from the penalty spot in the 79th minute, but Musa Barrow came up trumps for the Scorpions as he converted his 90th-minute penalty to force a share of the spoils.

Prior to that, Mohamed Magassouba's side got their continental title hunt underway on a brilliant note as they saw off Tunisia 1-0 in last Wednesday's group opener courtesy of Kone's 48th-minute penalty.

Mali, who are tied on four points with Gambia at the top of Group F, head into Thursday's game unbeaten in each of their last nine competitive games, claiming seven wins and two draws since a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Guinea in the AFCON qualifiers back in March.



译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

上周日，马里队被劲旅冈比亚1比1逼平，无缘非洲国家杯16强。

在一场谨慎的比赛中，易卜拉欣·通力(Ibrahima Kone)在第79分钟的点球中攻入了似乎是致胜球的一球，但穆萨·巴罗(Musa Barrow)在第90分钟的点球中战胜了蝎子队，迫使球队分一杯茶。

在此之前，穆罕默德·马加苏巴(Mohamed Magassouba)的球队在上周三的小组赛首场比赛中，凭借通力在第48分钟的点球，以1-0击败了突尼斯。

马里目前与冈比亚并列F组第一，积4分。自今年3月在AFCON预选赛中0 - 1负于几内亚队以来，马里队在过去9场比赛中均保持不败战绩，取得7胜2平。