Stoppage time, in the 120th minute of extra time.
U-20 World Cup, round of 16.
And a team you don’t often hear about. Equalizing with a trick.
Final, final moment of the game. A free kick twenty yards outside the box. Argentina’s defense in a drowsy semi-arranged setup, waiting for this last bit of action—and then it came.
The ref’s whistle blew.
Koïta knocks a clever, immediate pass forward to Konte.
And he puts it in.
Ten minutes later, it was Mali, of all teams, winning on penalties 5-4.
FIFA #U20WC – PENALTIES:
🇦🇷 ⚽️ ❌ ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️
🇲🇱 ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️Mali defeated Argentina to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIFA #U20WC pic.twitter.com/YBVhRBmCYS
— Alexander Umeakubuike ™ 🤕🔱⚜️ (@whizkrane) June 5, 2019
Last time I heard about Mali was at a concert in New York.
The coolest guitarist I’ve seen in years. From the Saharan desert:
Mdou Moctar at DromNYC last night
🔥 🔥 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pOwTvv3t1b— TIARET (@tiaret) January 6, 2019
Or that other time, at that other concert.
Amadou & Mariam. The blind couple from the more equatorial part of Mali.
Now the Malians are beating Argentina?
🇲🇱 Mali eliminate Argentina and deserve to play in quarter-finals
Amazing team #U20WC pic.twitter.com/mTR1XiHmtf
— Jabfootball (@Jabfooty) June 4, 2019
It could just be that Africa has a new upstart team.
And it could just be—that their manager is a West Ham follower?