MARSEILLE (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers) – Mali head coach Remi Giuitta has revealed that he would surmount all the challenges before him very soon.

The 41-year old tactician, admits that being at the helm of Mali men’s national team with premature exit of many key players after the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 left him at the mercy of uncertainty.

Not sure of what to expect of his new crop of players, the French-born coach had dreamed of a perfect 3-0 in Bamako in the Group B of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers banking on home fans and the talents he called up.

“THE JUNE-JULY WINDOW IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO BETTER WHAT WE DID IN BAMAKO. IN THE SECOND-LEG GAMES, THE PRESSURE WOULD NOT BE ON US LIKE IT WAS WHEN WE PLAYED AT HOME AND I LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING MORE TIME TO WORK WITH THE PLAYERS TO BUILD THEIR CONFIDENCE.” - Giuitta

The home fans lived up to expectation. They turned up on a daily basis drumming, cheering and dancing. In fact, any time Mali played, one is sure of some excitement from them as they put in so much energy in cheering their team.

“The fans kept us going even after we lost our first game against Rwanda. They did not turn their backs on us but instead kept faith believing that victory will surely come like it was in the game against Uganda in our second game. The home fans were so excited that they left their seating area to interact with the players after the game. It was an experience that I enjoyed,” he revealed.

The players on the other hand could not deliver 100%. As it turned out at the end of the February games, Giuitta recorded 1-2 to seat in the third place of the Group B standings behind Nigeria and Uganda.

However, he says that he has taken the challenge and would give his all to ensure that the trust that got him hired for the job in January is sustained.

“I knew the job was going to be difficult especially as a new team had to be put together in so short time to meet the [FIBA Basketball] World Cup African Qualifiers,” he told FIBA.basketball.

Majorly, Giuitta points out that save for a very few players over 80% of them were on their first international duties for Mali.

“It’s not easy getting the right chemistry of the team being the first time most of them were playing for Mali at the senior level. Though, the players were ready to give their best but the defeat in our first game against Rwanda brought our confidence into question. We realized that we did not follow our rhythm and that affected our defence,” he explained.

He observed that by the second game against Uganda that he and his wards had to redouble their effort hence the victory they recorded.

“It was clear that we had no choice but to win against Uganda if we must remain in the race knowing that the game against Nigeria would not be an easy ride.”

“For the first-leg, I want to say my players did their best but the June/ July window is another opportunity to better what we did in Bamako. The pressure would not be on us like it was when we played at home and I look forward to having more time to work with the players to build their confidence,” he pointed out.

Giuitta is aware that his team needs to be more competitive if they want to secure one of the five slots available to African teams for the FIBA Basketball World Cup which will take place from August 31 - September 15 in China in 2019.

"We need to be very competitive in the next window and take all games very serious. Every game is important to achieve our goal of making it to the second-round of the World Cup African Qualifiers," he emphasized.

FIBA