Bissouma, who plays his football in England in the colours of Tottenham Hotspur was speaking to CAFOnline from Mali’s base camp in Korhogo where the Eagles are preparing to face South Africa in their opening match of the competition at the newly built Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly.

“This will of course be a special tournament for me because I was born here. It is something that I truly treasure and for me to play a tournament such as the Africa Cup of Nations in a country that I was born in is truly special. I hope to do well with my teammates and make our supporters and nation proud” said Bissouma.

The Eagles touched down in Korhogo on Friday, 12 January where they will be based for the Group E fixtures against South Africa, Tunisia and Namibia.

Possessing an array of talented stars with the perfect balance of youth and experience, Mali will be hoping to reward the thousands of supporters expected to travel from Bamako, which is just on the border of Korhogo.

“We are playing in a very interesting group which requires us to be on alert. We do not take anything for granted and we will do our best in this competition” said the 27-year-old midfielder.

Mali kick off their campaign against South Africa on Tuesday, 16 January in a repeat of the 2013 quarter-final that saw the West Africans edge Bafana Bafana on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

They then face Tunisia four days later before concluding their group stage campaign against Namibia on 24 January.