Mali coach Patrice Carteron praised captain Seydou Keita for his role with the national team after they won bronze in the 2013 AFCON.
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Mali beat Ghana 3-1 in the 3rd-place play-off and Keita once again was pivotal to their success, driving the midfield, helping the defence and weighing in with a goal.
The former Barcelona player also stated that he would pay players from his own pocket when internal wrangles surfaced about bonuses not being paid.
Saturday night's match was a repeat of the 3rd-place play-off from the 2012 AFCON in Gabon and Equitorial Guinea and with the country experiencing a war, the Malian players would have liked to go all the way to the final.
Nevertheless, coming third again is an achievement for the West African nation as Carteron explained at a press conference after the match.
"We have a fantastic leader in Seydou Keita. He gives so much to his country, not only in football, but he gives so much that he deserves to be nominated," the Frenchman said.
"He is so professional that if he wants, he can play until he is 40 years old. He works really hard, he is unbelievable. He likes football and physically he is fantastic."
"Most of the people before the competition thought that we could win this competition," he explained. "We must realise that Mali do not have as much money as a lot of big footballing nations in Africa.
"What Mali did last year was unbelievable and to start again this year with younger players and to finish third is fantastic.
"For us, after the defeat in the semi-final, we were really disappointed. It's sad but I'm sure the people of Mali will be so proud of what the team did during the competition.
"I'm really proud of what we did because it was not easy to play this game after our defeat against Nigeria in the semi-finals. We are a young country in football. I say young country because we have never won the Cup of Nations," he said.
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