Mali 1-2 Serbia AET

[Okonkwo in da house]

Doumbia got no ball sense.

[yannick]

game petering out already, Africa is about to crash out

[marutimon]

Serbia are excellent time wasters. Mali have lost the plot now.

[yannick]

Doumbia got no ball sense.

I beg to differ on that, he has proved to be a tough customer for the Serbs all day...his ball deliveries have been pretty poor though

[yannick]

almost a 3 for Serbia, 2.5 mins left...Mali has lost the plot already, steam is out.

[yannick]

a Serbian player just pulled a "Yak" misses open net

[Benedict Iroha]

serbia just lucky

[green4life]

Ft. Mali messed up this game. Damn.

[yannick]

Mali is out, Serbia through to the finals...the Malians can hold their head high though, they balled big time.

[Okonkwo in da house]

serbia just lucky

They have beaten Mali 2x in the tournament. I don't think it is luck. They are better tactically.

[marutimon]

Well thats a waste... all African Final B. Mali better during normal time, but can't finish Serbia off. Serbia find energy in the second half and put Mali to the knife.

[yannick]

serbia just lucky

you may be right but to be honest they missed more glaring chances than Mali

[Orion]

Wow two teams in the semis and not one gets to the final.

[yannick]

serbia just lucky

They have beaten Mali 2x in the tournament. I don't think it is luck. They are better tactically.

kpom...Mali nearly had them on the ropes this time, but the Eastern Europeans have always been tough mentally.

[marutimon]

serbia just lucky

They have beaten Mali 2x in the tournament. I don't think it is luck. They are better tactically.

They were not. Mali outplayed Serbia for most of the game. Claiming Serbia were better tactically is stupid (and once again we have Africans making racist remarks about their own). The game went to extra time, Mali should have had a penalty, they went a man down... Its tough to come back from that. Tactics have nothing to do with this. Tactically Mali has nothing to be ashamed of.

I will however say this much:
1) Malians are terrible in the air.
2) Setpieces are the bane of African teams - we just can't make the most of them.

[marutimon]

serbia just lucky

you may be right but to be honest they missed more glaring chances than Mali

They missed those chances when Mali was a man down, a goal down and pushing players forward. It has nothing to do with Serbia being better. Besides: If anyone has watched Serbia at this tournament you would know they are terrible finishers. Its part of their team.

[Okonkwo in da house]

serbia just lucky

They have beaten Mali 2x in the tournament. I don't think it is luck. They are better tactically.

They were not. Mali outplayed Serbia for most of the game. Claiming Serbia were better tactically is stupid. The game went to extra time, Mali should have had a penalty, they went a man down... Its tough to come back from that. Tactics have nothing to do with this.

I will however say this much:
1) Malians are terrible in the air.
2) Setpieces are the bane of African teams - we just can't make the most of them.

My friend, I don't think you don't understand the word 'tactically'. Yes, Mali were denied a penalty but did you see the chances the Serbians also scoffed? We all would have liked Mali to go through but when a team beats you 2x in the same tournament, it must be better at something.

[marutimon]

serbia just lucky

They have beaten Mali 2x in the tournament. I don't think it is luck. They are better tactically.

They were not. Mali outplayed Serbia for most of the game. Claiming Serbia were better tactically is stupid. The game went to extra time, Mali should have had a penalty, they went a man down... Its tough to come back from that. Tactics have nothing to do with this.

I will however say this much:
1) Malians are terrible in the air.
2) Setpieces are the bane of African teams - we just can't make the most of them.

My friend, I don't think you understand the word 'tactically'. Yes, Mali were denied a penalty but did you see the chances the Serbians also scoffed? We all would have liked Mali to go through but when a team beats you 2x in the same tournament, it must be better at something.

They scoffed those chances in ET, when Mali was a man down and pushing forward. When you expose the back that kind of stuff will HAPPEN! Yes, they missed an open net, but it was ALL OR NOTHING for Mali at that point.

In the first game Serbia were clearly better, but Mali found its swagger as the tournament went on. Fact is Mali outplayed Serbia for most of the game and should have won this game. They were better - also tactically. The coach learnt from his first game and changed the way Mali played (minus the first 20-25 minutes of the game where he made onfield adjustments). They are out because of individual errors, questionable referee calls and failing to make their dominance count. They should have won it in regulation time, but Serbia found a way to hold on.

The coach for Mali was brilliant tactically and the Serbian coach has nothing on him. You win some, you lose some.

[Ekorian]

Glaring hypocrisy! Imagine the FE losing to Serbia twice in the tournament. Theses are some of the things we'll be reading on CE

CLUELESS MANU LOST TO BUNCH OF HEY YOUS
MANU IS TACTICALLY INEPTH
OUR BEST PLAYERS WERE LEFT ON THE BENCH
PINNICK TOOK BRIBE FROM SERBIA
SIASIA WOULD HAVE WON THE CUP
BLA! BLA!! BLA!!!

[Okonkwo in da house]

serbia just lucky

They have beaten Mali 2x in the tournament. I don't think it is luck. They are better tactically.

They were not. Mali outplayed Serbia for most of the game. Claiming Serbia were better tactically is stupid. The game went to extra time, Mali should have had a penalty, they went a man down... Its tough to come back from that. Tactics have nothing to do with this.

I will however say this much:
1) Malians are terrible in the air.
2) Setpieces are the bane of African teams - we just can't make the most of them.

My friend, I don't think you understand the word 'tactically'. Yes, Mali were denied a penalty but did you see the chances the Serbians also scoffed? We all would have liked Mali to go through but when a team beats you 2x in the same tournament, it must be better at something.

They scoffed those chances in ET, when Mali was a man down and pushing forward. When you expose the back that kind of stuff will HAPPEN! Yes, they missed an open net, but it was ALL OR NOTHING for Mali at that point.

In the first game Serbia were clearly better, but Mali found its swagger as the tournament went on. Fact is Mali outplayed Serbia for most of the game and should have won this game. They were better - also tactically. The coach learnt from his first game and changed the way Mali played (minus the first 20-25 minutes of the game). They are out because of individual errors, questionable referee calls and failing to make their dominance count. They should have won it in regulation time, but Serbia found a way to hold on.

In this game Mali was better but they adopted the wrong tactics. Sometimes they held on the ball for too long or they over-elaborated. Their defending was also shaky in some instances. That they received a red card is attributable to tactics. Then they wasted so much time arguing with some Latin American Oyinbo who probably did not want them to move on.

[Okonkwo in da house]

The Malian coach was the best among the African coaches but against the Serbian coach, he was second. Mali had the better talent but they lost on all occasions.

[yannick]

serbia just lucky

They have beaten Mali 2x in the tournament. I don't think it is luck. They are better tactically.

They were not. Mali outplayed Serbia for most of the game. Claiming Serbia were better tactically is stupid. The game went to extra time, Mali should have had a penalty, they went a man down... Its tough to come back from that. Tactics have nothing to do with this.

I will however say this much:
1) Malians are terrible in the air.
2) Setpieces are the bane of African teams - we just can't make the most of them.

My friend, I don't think you understand the word 'tactically'. Yes, Mali were denied a penalty but did you see the chances the Serbians also scoffed? We all would have liked Mali to go through but when a team beats you 2x in the same tournament, it must be better at something.

They scoffed those chances in ET, when Mali was a man down and pushing forward. When you expose the back that kind of stuff will HAPPEN! Yes, they missed an open net, but it was ALL OR NOTHING for Mali at that point.

In the first game Serbia were clearly better, but Mali found its swagger as the tournament went on. Fact is Mali outplayed Serbia for most of the game and should have won this game. They were better - also tactically. The coach learnt from his first game and changed the way Mali played (minus the first 20-25 minutes of the game where he made onfield adjustments). They are out because of individual errors, questionable referee calls and failing to make their dominance count. They should have won it in regulation time, but Serbia found a way to hold on.

The coach for Mali was brilliant tactically and the Serbian coach has nothing on him. You win some, you lose some.

Guy, the Malians shot themselves in the foot...yes they balled and played some exciting football.
.but all that translates to nothing when there is a glaring lack of discipline even in critical moments, and that is what cost the Malians this game...even when they were down to 10 men, some knucklehead Mali players still had the time to showboat in dangerous spots that twice nearly made the Serbs finish them off! from a tactical perspective the Malians for all their flair and exciting attacking play lacked that edge to make a difference...until the Serbians taught them never to waste chances...Doumbia really wasted some promising crosses, just as bad as Mali wasted set pieces.

[marutimon]

In this game Mali was better but they adopted the wrong tactics. Sometimes they held on the ball for too long or they over-elaborated. Their defending was also shaky in some instances. That they received a red card is attributable to tactics. Then they wasted so much time arguing with some Latin American Oyinbo who probably did not want them to move on.

You are officially clueless. And have no idea what are tactics.

The tactic was to keep the ball low and close to the feet. It worked for the most part. Some players were guilty of hogging the ball, but they were capable enough to do it. And they did so almost exclusively in the final third and to find space or get out of tricky situations. They did not do it like Ahmed Musa to run into dead ends. There was also very good movements off the ball and well rehearsed running into channels.

Obviously some players need to learn to release the ball earlier. But that again is down to individual not tactical issues.

Defensive blunders are not tactics, those are individual faults. The defence was set up very nicely.

That they received a red card is attributable to tactics. Then they wasted so much time arguing with some Latin American Oyinbo who probably did not want them to move on.

The attempt to go forward and being wrongly yellow carded has nothing to do with tactics.
Indiscipline is not tactics.