It all worked out fortuitously in the end for both Mahamadou Diarra and Mali on Sunday night after an acrimonious week.

Diarra played a leading role and got the decisive second goal as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Real Mallorca at the Bernabeu to clinch the Spanish league title by the narrowest of margins.

It was not a game he was due to play in, but FIFA earlier in the week ordered Diarra back to Madrid from his preparations with Mali for their vital African Nations Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone.

Diarra and compatriot Frederic Kanoute, who plays for Sevilla, had both been ready to play for their country ahead of their Spanish employers in an unusual clash of fixtures.

Mali needed to win their tie in Bamako to keep alive hopes of qualifying for next years Nations Cup finals in Ghana and after a spluttering campaign were keen for the services of both Diarra and Kanoute.

FIFAs ruling on the side of the Spanish clubs drew heavy criticism, notably from Jean-François Jodar, Malis coach, who claimed world footballs governing body was siding with powerful club interests rather than the concerns of its own member associations.

It looked like he might have had a point given that while the two Spanish clubs got their players back, bids by two Algerian teams to have their Malian imports back for weekend cup semi-finals were waved away by the Zurich bureaucrats.

But Mali in the end did not miss either Diarra or Kanoute, romping to a 6-0 win over Sierra Leone in the biggest win of the current Nations Cup qualifying campaign.

The one-sided triumph catapulted Mali to the top of their group and leaves them needing to avoid defeat away into in their last game to go to the Nations Cup in Ghana.

Diarra would have been delighted to hear the news of the result from Bamako, a match that finished an hour or so after the drama in Madrid was completed. Diarra, no stranger to championship success during his time at Frances Olympique Lyon, celebrated at the Bernabeu with the Mali flag draped over his shoulders, paying tribute to the country he did not want to disappoint at the weekend.

Mark Gleeson covers African soccer for Reuters from South Africa