Mali coach Patrice Carteron says that patience was the key to beating South Africa in the Africa Cup of Nations quaterfinals on Saturday.
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The Eagles, led by penalty shoot-out hero Soumbeila Diakite, overcame Bafana Bafana 3-1 on spot kicks with the goalkeeper saving twice from Dean Furman and May Mahlangu.
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Lehlohonolo Majoro also missed a penalty for the hosts in front of a capacity 50,000 crowd at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, where Cheick Diabate, Adama Tamboura and Mahamane Traore all scored.
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'' It was an extremely tough match '', Carteron said.
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'' The South Africans posed a lot of problems in the first half and we had to change the tactics in the 2nd half to get back into the match ''.
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'' The task was very difficult and the expectations were very high '', he said. '' We always play to win ''.
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'' What is coming in this competition we don't know, but what we know is that we are going to the semifinals. From there, we will dream ''.