Africa Cup of Nations: Mali book semi-final place

Hosts South Africa were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations last night when they lost a penalty shoot-out 3-1 to Mali after their quarter-final ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time.

South Africa’s fate was virtually sealed after penalties by former Rangers midfielder Dean Furman and May Mahlangu were saved by Mali goalkeeper Soumbeyla Diakite. With South Africa trailing 3-1 in the shoot-out, Lehlohonolo Majoro blasted his spot-kick wide, giving victory to Mali and setting up a semi-final against either Ivory Coast or Nigeria who meet today in the quarter-finals.

Cheick Diabate, Adama Tamboura and Mahamane Traore all scored for Mali after Siphiwe Tshabalala netted South Africa’s first penalty.

The hosts had taken a deserved lead after 31 minutes when the Mali defence failed to stop Mahlangu feeding Thuso Phala whose mis-hit shot landed at Tokelo Rantie’s foot for him to fire in from close range.

Mali equalised after 58 minutes when Samba Sow surged forward and found Mahamadou Samassa wide on the left. His perfect cross was met by the unmarked Seydou Keita who headed home.

South Africa looked the better team and their opening goal looked on its way for a while before it arrived. The noise at the Moses Madhiba Stadium was deafening with the virtually sold-out ground full of home fans in replica shirts but they fell silent when Keita equalised after 58 minutes. Mali shaded the rest of normal time but neither team created many more opportunities and there was an air of inevitability about extra time.

Earlier in the day, in Port Elizabeth, Wakaso Mubarak came off the bench to score twice and lead Ghana to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over heartbroken Cape Verde, who were making their first appearance in the tournament finals. Wakaso hammered home a 54th-minute penalty and scored into an empty net in injury time after a desperate Cape Verde sent everyone up the other end of the field – including goalkeeper Josimar Dias – in search of an equaliser.

Ghana’s semi-final opponents will be the winners of today’s quarter-final between Burkina Faso and Togo.