MLI - Mali's Niakate on a mission

ABIDJAN (AfroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - When the subject of AfroBasket comes up, Modibo Niakate is one those familiar names for good reason.

By the time he plays his first game for Mali in Abidjan, the 32-year-old guard will be completing his fifth consecutive AfroBasket appearance.

Niakate has not missed an African showdown since he first represented his country in 2005 following a college basketball career with the Cleveland State University.

He has played as many AfroBasket tournaments as Angola's Joaquim Gomes, Eduardo Mingas, Armando Costa, Carlos Morais and Senegal's Maleye Ndoye who are also lining up in Cote d'Ivoire's capital for their fifth continental championship appearance.

Niakate was born in France to Malian parents, and Mali - a country he first visited at the age of 20 - is the place he calls home.

Over the course of eight years with the national team, he learned that no matter how adverse the situation, you should never turn back to your origins.

Speaking to FIBA.com, he explained why he thinks it is so important to play for Mali.

"When I went there I said to myself I need to do something to help my country. And playing for Mali was one of those things to prove that my country is something that I don't forget about," he said.

Even the absence of his best friend and former Mali international Amara Sy was not significant enough to pull Niakate out.

"My country means a lot to me," he pointed out.

Just like Rwanda, Mali accepted a wild card invitation to participate in this year's AfroBasket as they finished third in the qualifier tournament behind hosts Cape Verde and Senegal.

Niakate says there was a reason Mali underperformed in Cape Verde.

"We went there with a very good team. Unfortunately two players who could be in the starting line-up were not qualified to play," he explained.

"During the tournament we lost three players with injuries. So, playing six games in six days is very hard when you have only six players left.

"If we had the whole team we could have done better than what we did. Luck is part of what happens in life."

Mali are in Group D alongside Nigeria, Cameroon and Republic of Congo.

For Niakate anything is possible: "We have very good chances in this tournament. We had three weeks training in France and we worked on things like how to play and stay together in situations that are very complicated.

"It does not matter if you have five good players. If you don't get together you don't win. You don't go to war with one soldier.

"We are close to Mali and probably they will bring a lot people to the games to support us," he went on.

But is the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup on the mind of Mali's players?

"Yes," Niakata said. "If we do some good here in Abidjan, we might get one of those three places. Who knows?"

FIBA