Mali will have to defy history if they are to overcome the mighty Ivory Coast in Wednesday's Africa Cup of Nations semi-final. The Ivorians have met Mali 21 times, winning 14 with the Eagles emerging victorious just the once, in a friendly back in 1995. Twice their paths have crossed in the Nations Cup, with the Elephants prevailing 3-0 in the first round in Ghana in 2008 and 3-1 in the quarter-finals in 1994.
Yet Mali's Seydou Keita, following the Henry Ford approach about history being 'bunk', dismissed the significance of the lopsided statistics, the Barcelona star saying: "The past? In football the past doesn't count for anything." Keita's return to the national team after a 20 month hiatus has proved instrumental in Mali's progress at the 2012 Cup.
He converted the decisive spot kick in Mali's 5-4 penalty shoot out defeat of co-hosts Gabon in Sunday's quarter-final which had ended 1-1 after extra time. Drogba, who missed a penalty then scored in the 3-0 quarter-final defeat of Equatorial Guinea on Saturday, commented: "In 2008 (Egypt beat them 4-1 in the semi-finals) we were dazzling, scoring lots of goals but we didn't manage to get to the final.
"In 2006 we were in the final and we lost. Here, we are showing character." His Premier League colleague, Yaya Toure, added: "We know that defensively we have to be strong because offensively we have nothing to fear as we have super strikers."