As the Malian women’s basketball team prepares to play the second World Cup in its history, interview with player Touty Gandega.
The Mali team is preparing to play the second Women’s Basketball World Cup in its history, scheduled for September 22 to October 1 in Australia. The Malians replace Nigerian women, who were forced to forfeit for this 2022 World Cup. For RFI, the rear Touty Gandega evokes this particular situation as well as the ambitions of the Eagles in a very strong group B, with in particular the Japanese Olympic vice-champions and the Australian vice-world champions.
RFI: Mali is the surprise guest of this World Cup, since it replaces Nigeria forfeited for this World Cup. How do you handle this rather unusual situation?
Touty Gandega : This participation fell on us. We really like it… It’s a crazy opportunity! Not all players compete in a World Cup. So, we are at the World Cup in “we come, we have fun, we give everything we need” mode to represent Africa as well as possible. Because, casually, Nigeria was Africa’s strongest team. As we replace the Nigerians, we tell ourselves that we must also be up to it. So, there is still this little stress. But we tell ourselves that this is a great opportunity and that we will give everything.
Have you been able to properly prepare for this 2022 World Cup, despite the circumstances?
We have known the situation since this summer. We had a first rally on July 22 in Bamako. And then, the girls came to the selection in dribs and drabs, in particular because of their club obligations. […] But that did not prevent the group of 10-12 players from training and calmly preparing for Mali, with friendly matches.
Meiya Tirera is the only player summoned to Australia to have played in the 2010 World Cup, the last World Cup in Mali. Is there any nervousness in the team about playing such a big competition?
To be honest, I don’t think we realize it yet. For the moment, there is not really any stress within the group. But when September 22 is approaching and we realize that the World Cup is going to start, against Japan, we will become a little more nervous. However, I think it will be a good stress. But there, if you were in the group, you could not say that we are stressed. Especially since this year, the team is really young. There are four alumni in the group. Otherwise, the other players are “babies”.
Your sister Diana was part of the Malian adventure at the 2010 World Cup. Did she share her experience with you?
Yes, she told me it was going to be a unique experience, that these are things you sometimes only experience once in a lifetime. She told me that I had to play for Mali, wet the jersey, while having fun. My sister also played in the 2008 Olympic Games, the World Cup, the African Championship… She did everything with the Malian team. She knows what she’s talking about.
The Mali team is in a group that is both very strong and very homogeneous where you will face Japan (September 22), Australia (23), France (25), Serbia (26) and Canada ( 27). Reaching the quarter-finals, is it almost impossible or are you confident despite everything?
I’m not going to sell dreams, because it’s going to be really very complicated. I discussed it with my former coach in Angers, David Gautier, who is an assistant coach in the France team. We said to ourselves that we are really in the group of death! At a pinch, if we had been in the other group, that of Puerto Rico [avec la Belgique, la Bosnie, la Chine, la Corée du Sud et les États-Unis, NDLR], why not ? But there, being in this group, it’s complicated… Already, if we win a match, it’s “Hallelujah”! I can’t lie or pretend. We will obviously give everything and if we manage to win matches, so much the better. But if we can’t win them, we just have to produce our best basketball and have fun. It will allow us to progress. If we reach the quarter-finals, it will be more than an achievement.
In particular, you will face the French women that you had titillated (66-77 defeat) in qualifying for the World Cup in February 2022. Is there something to play against the Blues, in particular?
Yes, when you see what we were able to do in February, with very little preparation time. We say to ourselves that we absolutely want to hang them. Now Les Bleues have had a lot more preparation time than in qualifying. They’ll be ready and won’t make the same mistake twice, I think.
When we go to play against them, we will give everything. The latest confrontation gives us hope. We managed to lose “only” 11 points, while we were close to them at one point in this match, in terms of the score. So why not repeat the same performance? And, with a victory at stake, it would be fire!