Mali will have to defy history if they are to overcome the mighty Ivory Coast in today’s Africa Cup of Nations semifinal.

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 quarterfinals 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.

The 32-year-old veteran, reflecting on the Eagles’ presence in the last four, commented: “We deserve our qualification. Everything isn’t perfect, we’re not Barcelona nor Brazil but we’re in the semi-finals and we’ll play to our strengths.

“We have nothing to lose.”

Mali, after escaping from the first round as group runners-up to Ghana, know only too well they will have to raise their game to a higher level to topple the competition favourites.