Maiga, Koita lead Mali to final of FIFA U-17 World Cup

Mali is a very fast team and this is something known by all their rivals. The speedy Malian squad will play the final game of Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup against Nigeria on Sunday.

According to the tournament's official website, Sidiki Maiga and Sekou Koita, who scored the two goals in the second half of the match against Belgium, are the players who led Mali to finals.

About his goal against Belgim, Maiga said "I saw that Moussa Diakite cleared the ball and immediately I knew I could score," adding that "I think there was a lack of understanding between the goalkeeper and the defender. I usually never score many goals like that one, but instead I score by shooting outside the area."

On the other hand, Koita was the one who killed the hopes of Belgium by scoring just five minutes before the end. "My specialty is this kind of goals, shooting from the side. I like to shoot from the right or the left. I ran to the side thanks to my speed and the Belgium defense made a marking mistake."

But in the first match against Belgium in the group phase, Mali attacked the Belgian goal but failed a lot. "It was at the beginning of the tournament. We did not know what a World Cup was. We felt some pressure but know we are facing it better. We confused speed with hastiness," said Maiga, while Koita added "we were very decided then but we failed many times."

"We learned many lessons from the first match. We practiced direct shots and that is why we won," said Maiga.

Coach Baye Ba encouraged the Malian boys to go out totally transformed in the second half. "Our coach talked much with us. He strategically relocated us and especially he told us to stay calm," both players said.

Mali will face Nigeria and about the rival Maiga said "I think they have a good team. We will see."

No matter what will happen, the Malian boys will play finals for the first time in its history. They are already heroes in the African country. Endi