Mali have a habit of punching above their weight at the Africa Cup of Nations and there is no reason to doubt they could do so again at the 2013 tournament. The Eagles have been runners-up once, third once and fourth three times in seven appearances , a record many more-established football countries would gladly settle for.
A draw that placed the Malians in Group B with former champions Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger gives the landlocked West African state a good chance of making the quarter-finals.Mali and Ghana clashed twice at the 2012 Cup of Nations in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea with the Eagles losing a group game 2-0 and winning by the same score in the third-place play-off.
...