ALEXANDRIA (Egypt) - The quartet of Malian national team players Oumar Ballo, Siriman Kanoute, Hassan and Fousseyni Drame share a history in international basketball.
As teenagers, the four men, under the tutelage of current Eagles national team coach Alhadji Dicko, made history by being the first African team to make a FIBA Basketball World Cup final, albeit at the U19 level in 2019.
They shocked the favorites, France, in the semi-finals before losing to the United States in the final.
Our goal is to qualify for the 2027 World Cup, and we want to replicate our success in the 2019 U19 tournament."
Last year, as grown men, they came of age as they led Mali to a historic first appearance in an AfroBasket final, which they lost to Angola.
Their shared story alongside Dicko continues in Egypt in the second window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers (February 26 - March 1).
Mali, who are still to qualify for the Basketball World Cup at the senior level, opened their Group D campaign with shocking 86-77 win over hosts Egypt, on Thursday.
Dicko, Ballo, Kanoute and twins Hassan and Fousseyni shared their experiences of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the tournament's impact on Mali today.
Point guard Siriman Kanoute felt confident that, as they qualified for the U19 Basketball World Cup, they would work to make their debut at the senior level in Qatar next year.
"Making it to the World Cup final was a dream come true. It was an incredible journey for us.," Kanoute said.
Kanoute continued: "Obviously, we wanted to win, but when you play against a basketball powerhouse like the USA, it's difficult. We learned from that experience, and hopefully we will get a second chance to make history with the men's team."
"We want to make Africa dream again," added Kanoute, who was part of the 2019 tournament's All-Star five along his teammate Oumar Ballo.
"Our goal is to qualify for the 2027 World Cup, and we want to replicate our success in the 2019 U19 tournament. We won't back down from anyone," a confident Kanoute pointed out.
African teams have rarely given strong performances in FIBA World Cup competitions, but Mali's finals appearance in 2019 was a sign of a potential shift.
Another member of the All-Star five seven years ago, center Oumar Ballo, says their incredible run in Greece showed they meant business.
"People have this perception of African nations that we only go to the World Cup for tourism. We had a different mindset. We knew that the hard work we put in and the team we had were key to our success in Greece. But more importantly, our success in Greece was fundamentally down to the brotherhood. We play for each other," said Ballo, who made his senior team debut at last year's AfroBasket.
Ballo says the run to the AfroBasket final could lead to new windows of opportunity for basketball in Mali.
"This demonstrates our commitment to helping our nation. Mali has many talented basketball players. There are many young men in our country who just need an opportunity. The future of Malian basketball is bright," said Ballo.
Veteran coach Dicko emphasised that the culture of hard work is why Mali is enjoying success today. It was the message in 2019, and it is the same today.
"They are patriots who would do anything for the national team. They are warriors," said Dicko who is a senior official in the Mali Army.
Dicko went on saying: "In Greece, we wanted to show the world that basketball is played on the court and nowhere else."
He recalled that forcing the US to step up their game in final made him even more confident of team's potential. "Despite being down by one at halftime and losing by 14 points against the USA, I hope the message about our hard work gets through."
One thing the Hassan twins agree on is that Mali's greatest strength as a basketball nation is their teamwork, which contributed to their success in the U19 World Cup, and which they hope to bring to the senior team.
"As everyone could see, the key to our [U19 World Cup] success was and still is the brotherhood of love that we share. That's what we carried with us, both on and off the court. As my brother said, we grew up in communities where everyone loved each other," Hassan noted.
Fousseyni added: "When a Malian wins, everyone back home wins too. What we need is support from the media, which we don’t have. The talent and people are there. People were surprised by our results, but we weren't because we knew how hard we had worked."
Only time will tell if Mali can make it to FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time.
FIBA